On Thanksgiving evening, firm President Emeritus Martin N. Sandler passed away. Mr. Sandler believed in trade and investment as the most effective mechanisms to assist new and developing nations.
Mr. Sandler founded the American Israel Chamber of Commerce in 1958 to develop business and ongoing commercial relationships between Israel and the United States. The Chamber, under by Mr. Sandler’s leadership, has grown into a national network of what is now 12 state and regional offices across the United States.
In 1959, Mr. Sandler also created the Hotel Corporation of Israel to fund and construct the first four-star hotel in Israel and signed on Sheraton Hotels to manage it as the company’s first overseas property.
Mr. Sandler graduated in accounting from the University of Minnesota, after which he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a Lieutenant JG and Gunnery Officer. Mr. Sandler also was the President of ERO Industries, Inc., founded the Gastro-Intestinal Research Foundation (GIRF), and supported Thresholds, a mental health service provider, by purchasing a vocational facility in Rockford, Illinois, for disabled adults.