An avid Spartan and committed Jewish community leader, Arthur H. Langer was born in the Bronx in New York on January 25, 1942.   He attended Torah V’Emunah Yeshivah and graduated from the prestigious Stuyvesant High School.  He started Michigan State University in 1960 in the school of Communication Arts and Science and earned a BS in Advertising in 1964.  As a student, Art became interested in journalism and advertising, where he worked at the State News, eventually as the classified advertising manager. 

Art was known for his business acumen.  He served as Advertising Sales Manager of the Observer and Eccentric Group for several years.  In 1986, he co-founded Medical Weight Loss Clinic.  He was instrumental in developing and growing the business throughout Michigan and Ohio.  Respected for his generosity, Art Langer touched many lives both personally and professionally making a positive impact on them.  

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Throughout the years he kept a special love for Michigan State in his heart.  A Spartan through and through, Art attended all the home football games where he loved to tailgate with friends and family (and even traveled to many bowl games).  

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Art had a strong sense of Jewish identity and a great love for the Jewish community.  He was very active at Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park, eventually serving for two years as president.  He became involved with MSU Hillel, where he played a critical role in the fundraising campaign that led to the new campus Hillel building and served as Hillel’s president.  He also served on the advisory board of the Jewish Studies program.

 

MSU Hillel held a special place in Art’s heart and it was because of his love for MSU and MSU Hillel that Gail (a graduate of Wayne State University) grew to love MSU and become an honorary Spartan.  The parents of three children, including two MSU alums, together, Art and Gail both looked forward to taking their grandchildren to MSU’s Grandparents University each summer.

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Gail Langer, a retired teacher and college instructor, has taken an active role in many communal causes.  Gail currently serves as a board member of MSU Hillel, Hillel of Metro Detroit, the Jewish Women’s Foundation and the David B. Hermelin Ort Resource Center.  She is also a past president of Congregation Beth Shalom. 

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The Gail and Arthur H. (z’l) Langer Student Leadership and Internship Fund was established in 2014 to honor the memory of Art Langer and to help support student leadership internships at MSU Hillel.  In its inaugural year, the fund will support MSU Hillel’s media and communications internships, two positions which are critical to Hillel’s PR success and for which Art, as a lifelong advertising professional and community leader would be proud.

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If you are interested in making a gift in support of the Gail and Arthur H. Langer Student Leadership and Internship Fund, please click here or contact Jonathon Koenigsberg (jonathon@msuhillel.org or 517-332-1916).