Irene with Sister Luise Radlmeier, 2006 Wallenberg medalist.
Irene with the 2005 medal recipient Paul Rusesabagina, the man who saved over 1,200 people during the Rwanda genocide.
Irene with the Dalai Lama, the 1994 medal recipient.
Irene with 1994 medal recipient Miep Gies who helped hide Anne Frank's family during World War II.
University of Michigan Wallenberg Medal & Lecture
In 1990 Irene co-founded the Raoul Wallenberg Medal & Lecture at the University of Michigan to honor Raoul Wallenberg on campus each year and to provide humanitarian role models for students and community. The motto of this project is “One Person Can Make A Difference In Building A Better World.” As of 2017, twenty five medalists have spoken on campus including:
Elie Wiesel (1990)
Jan Karski (1991)
Helen Suzman (1992)
His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet (1994)
Miep Gies (1994)
Per Anger (1995)
Marion Pritchard (1996)
Simha Rotem (1997)
John Lewis (1999)
Nina Lagergren (2000)
Marcel Marceau (2001)
Kailash Satyarthi (2002)
Bill Basch (2003)
Heinz Drossel (2004)
Paul Rusesabagina (2005)
Sister Luise Radlmeier (2006)
Sompop Jantraka (2008)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu (2008)
Lydia Cacho (2009)
Denise Mukwege (2010)
Aung San Suu Kyi (2011)
Maria Gunnoe (2012)
Agnes Heller (2014)
Masha Gessen (2015)
Bryan Stevenson (2017)
March For Our Lives and The B.R.A.V.E. Youth Leaders (2018)
Safa Al Ahmad (2019)
For details check www.wallenberg.umich.edu