On March 3, Ben Ami Spaisman, of Washington, D.C., died. He was born Ben-Ami Szpajzman in Dzizaku, U.S.S.R., on Jan. 9, 1943 to Josek and Cypa Szpajzman. Named Ben Ami, “Son of the People,” he often spoke with amazement, gratitude and pride of his parents and their survival and circuitous journey to the United States.
After immigrating to Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1955, Ben became a naturalized American citizen on Nov. 29, 1962. Ben went on to graduate from City College of New York with an engineering degree. His first position was with Vitro Laboratories with whom he worked as an engineer on the NASA Apollo program at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, in 1966.
He continued to work as an engineer for Vitro and other companies in Washington, D.C., and in Grenoble, France, and obtained his MBA from the George Washington University. In 1971, he sat for the LSAT but ultimately he purchased a direct marketing company called ACS in 1974. He created several other businesses over the years and consulted in private equity before joining the Mathematical Association of America in 2015 as chief business officer.
Ben is preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Zypora Spaisman. Ben is survived by his partner, Michelle Lisk Walker, of Washington, D.C.; his daughter and son-in-law, Erica and Hobbs Allison of Austin Texas; his son and daughter-in-law, Elliot and Terra Adler Spaisman of Bethesda; four granddaughters, Lilly Jayne Allison, Paige Allison, Sydney Spaisman and Sloan Spaisman; his cousin Gilda Zuckerman Shani and Dr. Jacob Shani and family of New York City; and Michelle’s daughter and son-in-law, Brittany Walker and Brad Mahoney of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Donations be made to the Mathematical Association of America (MAA.org) and/or mightycause.com/story/Maaben. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care. ■
