Alvin Ratz Kaufman
Inducted In
1974
A.R. Kaufman, of Kitchener, one of Canada’s outstanding industrialists and philanthropists, had personal experience in the rubber industry through association with his father, Jacob Kaufman, which led to the founding and successful development of the Kaufman Rubber Company in 1908 (later the Kaufman Footwear Industries) and the Superior Box Company.
He made a unique contribution to humanitarian work throughout Canada by the founding and sustained support of birth control projects, especially the Parents Information Bureau.
He also gave invaluable service to Kitchener through city planning, which he initiated and guided for decades, and to the local branch of the YMCA which he established and to which he gave continuous moral and financial support.
He served the Kitchener Parks Board and boards of many local organizations and institutions, and was a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Waterloo.
In 1964 he was chosen Citizen of the Year by the Kitchener Junior Chamber of Commerce. In 1973, a new Kitchener school “The A.R. Kaufman School,” was named in his honour.