06-11-2023 HOF - Flipbook - Page 53
Baltimore Sun Media | Sunday, June 11, 2023 53
T
erry Meyerhoff Rubenstein’s influence
can be felt all over the Baltimore area,
from after-school recreation programs
in Belair-Edison, funded by a foundation that she helmed, to the Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra, which she helped
steer through a financial crisis.
Less well-known is the impact this
plain-talking dynamo has made nationally.
“Terry has a singular passion for helping addicts, alcoholics and families get well,” says William C. Moyers, vice president of public affairs for
the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, a Minnesota-based addiction treatment center.
“She was instrumental in helping us get national legislation passed in
2008 requiring insurance companies to pay for addiction treatment at the
same level as physical illnesses. That’s really important, and I don’t think
people in Baltimore know that about her.”
Rubenstein had personal reasons for becoming involved with Hazelden
— a relative, now grown, received treatment there as a teen.
But she pours the same energy and strategic thinking into everything
she does, whether advocating for people with disabilities as director of
the Maryland Special Olympics in the 1970s, working as a consumer affairs
reporter for The Sun that same decade, leading a task force to build the first
Jewish student center at the Johns Hopkins University, or working with
other builders to renovate a town house that was auctioned off to raise
money for homeless people.
Age: 74
Hometown: Caves Valley
Current residence: Cockeysville
Education: Park School of Baltimore, B.S.
from Emerson College in Boston
Career highlights: Developed residential communities in
Maryland under the names of Bancroft Homes, West Town
Development and New Town Development; executive vice
president and director of the Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff
Family Charitable Funds
Civic and charitable activities: Leadership roles
at the Hazelden Foundation in Center City, Minnesota;
former secretary and treasurer of the Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra board of directors; former chairwoman of the
Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce
Family: Married to James Rubenstein; three children
and six grandchildren
“In the era when I grew up,
people didn’t know what to do
with strong” women, Rubenstein,
74, says. “I like to run things. I
was always very clear about what
needed to be done.”
Rubenstein’s grandfather,
Joseph Meyerhoff, made his
fortune in construction and real
estate and left his wealth to his
children and grandchildren.
Rubenstein’s parents raised their
four kids in Baltimore County
and were determined not to spoil
them.
“My parents raised us to be
tough and capable,” Rubenstein
says. “If I got into trouble at
school, they said, ‘Take care of it.’
They never intervened.”
In college, Rubenstein’s savvy
political instincts nearly got her
in trouble.
She enrolled at the University of Wisconsin just as antiwar protests were sweeping the
nation. The Madison campus was
a hotbed of activity.
“I used to go to SDS [Students
for a Democratic Society] meetings,” Rubenstein says.
“I would say things like, ‘If
you really want to take over the
campus, you have to take over
the power grid.’ I’m lucky that at
the time, the men were running
everything and no one listened to
me. That’s just the way my mind
works; I’m very goal-oriented.”
Sensing she was getting in
over her head — there was a fatal
campus bombing two years after
she left — Rubenstein transferred
to Boston’s Emerson College,
where she completed her undergraduate education.
On some level, Rubenstein
probably always knew that she’d
eventually join the family business.
In the 1980s and 1990s, she and
her husband, Jim, were developers specializing in residential real
estate.
They built Owings Mills New
Town — the largest planned
community in the Baltimore area.
“I grew up in a family of builders,” Rubenstein says. “It’s a very
exciting, very creative — and very
tough — business. People can get
nasty because it is their home. It
was never easy keeping everyone
happy.”
“I grew up in a
family of builders.
It’s a very exciting,
very creative —
and very tough —
business. People can
get nasty because it
is their home. It was
never easy keeping
everyone happy.”
— Terry Meyerhoff Rubenstein
In 1998, she went to work for
the Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff
Family Charitable Funds, becoming director of the philanthropic
organization in 2005. Under her
leadership, the Family Foundation invested in projects aimed at
bolstering the middle class.
“We met with city officials and
identified organizations we could
stabilize with just a little bit of
support. You don’t have to spend
a million dollars. You can spend
$100,000 and make a big difference,” Rubenstein says.
Among the family fund’s projects: supporting free admission at
the Baltimore Museum of Art and
the Walters Art Museum.
“Terry is a terrific leader,” says
Mike Gill, who served twice as
the secretary of the Maryland
Department of Commerce and
was inducted into The Sun’s Hall
of Fame in 2021.
“She’s direct and clear and
passionate. Sheryl Sandberg
[Facebook’s former chief operating officer] talks about ‘leaning in.’ Go to any board meeting,
and most people are seated in a
neutral position. But there are
always a few sitting on the edge
of their chairs.
“Terry always leans in.”
— Mary Carole McCauley
