Brandeis Honors Myra Kraft by Dedicating a Program in Her Name

Providing youth with the tools needed to succeed was long a cause of Myra Kraft, so naming a program that helps prepare students for a four-year college seemed fitting for Brandeis University officials.

The Transitional Year Program will now bear Kraft's name. The late wife of New England Patriots Owner Robert Kraft graduated from the Waltham-based college in 1964.

The program, which started in 1968, provides one year of academic support for students who do not come in with the resources at home or school needed to prepare them to do the work at a four-year institution, according to the release.

“Myra was a humanitarian in both a personal sense and a community sense, and she believed that young people with motivation, determination and focus shouldn’t be held back because they lacked opportunity,” Brandeis President Frederick M. Lawrence said in the announcement of the dedication. “She had a unique way of relating individually to everyone she met. She loved helping people unlock their inner potential to have an impact on the world.”

Robert Kraft made a gift of $5 million to the program to support his late wife's vision.

“Myra loved Brandeis University and nothing would have made her more proud than to have her name associated with the Transitional Year Program,” said Robert Kraft in the announcement. “It has been helping underprivileged students achieve greatness through higher education for decades. The investment in these aspiring students each year will continue to have an immeasurable impact in our communities for generations to come. The TYP personifies what Myra’s life was all about.” 

Find out more about the the Transitional Year Program by clicking here.