Irene Butter

Irene Butter is a well-known peace activist, Holocaust survivor, and Professor Emerita of Public Health at the University of Michigan. Irene and Anne Frank lived in the same neighborhood in Amsterdam and had an encounter in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp shortly before Anne died. Irene is a frequent and inspirational speaker about her experience during World War II, stressing the importance of "Never A Bystander" and that "One Person Can Make A Difference." Irene is a cofounder of Zeitouna, a group of Jewish and Arab women working for social justice, and she is a cofounder of the Raoul Wallenberg project at the University of Michigan, which honors the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews in Budapest, grants fellowships to students, and awards an annual peace medal to peace workers such as the Dalai Lama, Elie Wiesel, Desmond Tutu, and Bryan Stevenson. She holds a PhD in economics from Duke University and is the author of Shores Beyond Shores: From Holocaust to Hope, My True Story.