The Hertz Corporation Partners with the Hertz Foundation to Sponsor 2019 Fellow

LIVERMORE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In 1957, John Hertz – the name forever identified with The Hertz Corporation – created a foundation with a simple mission: advance groundbreaking applied science and engineering that would benefit the country and humanity.

Now more than 60 years later, the global rental car company and the independent foundation will jointly advance this mission with The Hertz Corporation’s sponsorship of a 2019 Hertz Foundation Fellow. This is the first partnership between the company and the foundation established by John Hertz.

“We are proud to join The Hertz Corporation in advancing science and knowledge in ways that will benefit humanity for generations to come,” said Robbee Baker Kosak, president of the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation. “It’s a partnership with special meaning, knowing we are also jointly advancing the legacy of John Hertz – a man who in business and life, so greatly valued innovation.”

The Hertz Foundation Fellowship empowers the nation’s most promising young scientists, engineers, and mathematicians by granting five-year PhD fellowships that offer freedom to pursue innovative research wherever it may lead. With this grant, The Hertz Corporation will provide $250,000 to ensure that a Fellow’s research is fully funded for five years.

“We’re delighted to partner with the Hertz Foundation with whom we share a deep-rooted focus on education and innovation,” said Kathryn Marinello, president and CEO of The Hertz Corporation. “We strongly believe that the future of our industry and society depends on investing in educational opportunities that will help advance technology and scientific discoveries. Through this Fellowship, we look forward to supporting the next generation of big thinkers and risk-takers.”

The company joins the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, Draper, and hundreds of individuals in supporting the most prestigious graduate fellowship in the United States.

The recipient of the first Hertz Corporation Fellowship is Bailey Flanigan, a 2019 Hertz Foundation Fellow who recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in biomedical engineering. Bailey will start her graduate studies in theoretical computer science at Carnegie Mellon University this fall.

“Bailey exemplifies the traits we look for in a Hertz Fellow,” Kosak said. “She is a creative and multi-talented thinker who draws from her unique academic background to push the traditional boundaries of research to make a societal impact.”

Flanigan is interested in combining approaches from computer science, economics, and the physical sciences to study topics ranging from tumor genetics to data privacy. She is also a committed teacher who believes that educating others helps make her a better scientist. “When I teach on topics related to my research, I see the material I’m researching through the eyes of my students,” Flanigan said. “That fresh perspective can often lead to new ideas.”

The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation and The Hertz Corporation trace their roots to John D. Hertz, the entrepreneurial Hungarian immigrant who upended transportation in the United States through his businesses, which made car travel more accessible and affordable. With the founding of the Hertz Foundation in 1957, he passionately supported the critical early-stage research endeavors of science, engineering, and mathematics students who possess the potential to change our world for the better by solving difficult, real-world problems. John Hertz and his wife donated most of their fortune to the Foundation.

Marinello believes John Hertz would have been pleased that two of his most enduring creations have partnered to foster the education and training of the nation’s most outstanding scientists and engineers. “John Hertz had a talent for spotting good opportunities and investing in them,” Marinello said. “With The Hertz Corporation Fellowship, we are doing the same by investing in this generation’s most promising young minds.”

Flanigan is one of eleven new Hertz Foundation Fellows announced today. For more, visit: https://hertzfoundation.org/news/pressrelease/1534/Fannie-and-John-Hertz-Foundation-Announces-2019-Graduate-Fellows

ABOUT THE FANNIE AND JOHN HERTZ FOUNDATION

The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation is dedicated to advancing groundbreaking applied science with real-world benefits for all humanity. There are over 1,200 Hertz Fellows, and over six decades Fellows have been honored with the Nobel Prize, the National Medal of Science, the Turing Award, the Breakthrough Prize, and the MacArthur “genius” Fellowship. They are also leaders in business and industry whose accomplishments include developing groundbreaking diagnostics and treatments for disease, new innovations for energy creation and storage, novel tools for exploring Earth and space, and creating new supercomputer designs. Fellows have founded more than 200 companies and hold more than 3,000 patents. Forty-one Fellows are members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

ABOUT HERTZ

The Hertz Corporation, a subsidiary of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc., operates the Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty and Firefly vehicle rental brands in approximately 10,200 corporate and franchisee locations throughout North America, Europe, The Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The Hertz Corporation is one of the largest worldwide rental companies, and the Hertz brand is one of the most recognized in the world. Product and service initiatives such as Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, Ultimate Choice, Carfirmations, Mobile Wi-Fi and unique vehicles offered through its specialty collections set Hertz apart from the competition. Additionally, The Hertz Corporation owns the vehicle leasing and fleet management leader Donlen, operates the Hertz 24/7 car sharing business in international markets, and sells vehicles through Hertz Car Sales. For more information about The Hertz Corporation, visit: www.hertz.com.

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