The International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life will not receive $400,000 of a grant from the Justice, Equality, Human Dignity and Tolerance Foundation, which was forced to shut down in December due to its investment in Bernard L. Madoff's Ponzi scheme, according to Director of the Ethics Center Daniel Terris.JEHT awarded the Ethics Center two grants of $600,000. The first, which was given to the Ethics Center in 2004, was completely paid off, Terris said. It was used to support a series of programs related to the Brandeis Institute for International Judges, which "provides international judges with the opportunity to meet and discuss critical issues concerning the theory and practice of international justice," according to the Ethics Center's Web site.

The second grant, which was originally intended to be for $600,000, was going to be used for a "continuation of the same project with a few extra wrinkles," Terris said. "It was also going to include more focus on educating the U.S. public about international courts and tribunals."

Terris explained that both grants from the JEHT Foundation were designed to be given over a three-year period. The Ethics Center had already received $200,000 of the second grant in 2008 before the Foundation collapsed, Terris explained, but it will not receive the money for the other two years.

"I was dismayed on behalf of the Center because the work that they have funded is important," Terris said. "We had big plans for the next years under this grant. Obviously we will have to rethink some aspects of that very quickly. . It's sad to see a major foundation that's supporting a lot of good institutions and a lot of good work simply vanish," he said.

However, Terris stressed that the Ethics Center had not committed any of these funds. "We are not out any money," he explained. "We won't be able to do the projects to the extent that we would have with the JEHT funding, but it isn't as if we now have to come up with that kind of money."

It is still uncertain to what extent Brandeis as a whole will be affected by the Madoff fraud. "All of us feel great sympathy for individuals and foundations that have been injured by Mr. Madoff, but at this time there is really no way of knowing what the long-term impact may be," University President Jehuda Reinharz wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.

"We know from press reports that some individuals, who have been generous donors to Brandeis, did invest with Mr. Madoff, and it would not be surprising if there are other individuals who may have invested, but about whom we are not aware," Reinharz wrote in e-mail to the Justice.

"The University has never invested a penny with Bernard Madoff," Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Nancy Winship explained. "I am absolutely categorically positive about that," she added.

However, University President Jehuda Reinharz wrote in a Jan. 5 e-mail to the campus community, "sadly, some of Brandeis's most staunch and generous supporters suffered major losses."

One such supporter is the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation, which is reported to have lost $145 million. However, the Foundation will fulfill its obligations to complete the funding of the University's science center and admissions building projects, according to Diana Pisciotta, a Foundation spokesperson, who spoke to the Justice on Dec. 23.

The Shapiros "have firmly committed to doing whatever they need to do to meet their [current] obligations to Brandeis University," Winship said.

"Though this has had an impact on our family, as well as our Family Foundation, the Foundation will honor all of its existing commitments," Carl Shapiro said in a Dec. 15 public statement.

"I was stunned and saddened to learn about the allegations against Bernie Madoff," Carl Shapiro said in his Dec. 15 statement. "It is devastating to think that so many charities, individuals and institutions that had put their trust in Mr. Madoff have had their lives so negatively impacted. Though I have had a personal relationship with Mr. Madoff for more than 50 years, any decisions I or my family foundation made to invest with him were based on his apparent business acumen, sense of integrity and commitment to sound investing principles," he said.

According to the Dec. 16 statement on the Foundation's Web site, the Shapiro Family Foundation is "committed to building back the resources of our foundation and fully anticipate that the Foundation will continue to be a strong supporter of the region's nonprofits for many years to come.