“In the end, it’s not about what you have or what you accomplished. It’s about who you lifted up, who you’ve made better, what you have given back.”
Denzel Washington
September 1958 – Columbia University: Art Garfunkel, a Jewish kid from Queens, New York, enrolled at Columbia University. During freshmen orientation, he met Sandy Greenburg, a poor fellow Jew from Buffalo, New York. The two, who shared a passion for music and art, became roommates and best friends.
During the first semester of their junior year, 20-year-old Sandy’s vision mysteriously disappeared. Following emergency surgery for long-misdiagnosed glaucoma, the failed surgery left him completely blind. Devastated, Sandy gave up on his dream of becoming a lawyer, dropped out of Columbia, and moved back to Buffalo. He cut off communications with old friends, refusing to answer letters or return phone calls.
A few weeks later, Art flew to Buffalo and showed up unexpectedly at Sandy’s door. He wasn’t going to let his buddy give up on his life. He pleaded with Sandy to give Columbia another shot. Art promised Sandy that he would be by his side and be his friend’s eyes. With Art’s encouragement and help, Sandy returned to Columbia in September 1961.
To show his empathy for Sandy’s plight, Art began to refer to himself as ‘Darkness.’ A turning point in Sandy’s life happened a few months later. Art was guiding him through the crowded Grand Central Station when he told Sandy that he had an appointment and suddenly left him all alone. Petrified, Sandy stumbled and bumped into people trying to find his way. He tripped and fell several times bloodying his knees. After two nightmarish hours, Sandy found a seat on the right subway and made it to his exit at 116th Street.
After Sandy exited the subway, someone bumped into him, and he recognized a familiar voice. Art had followed him to ensure he made it home. Sandy was furious, until he realized Art’s rationale for leaving him. “I had negotiated the subway system by myself. That experience was the spark that caused me to live an independent life, without fear, without doubt,” remembers Sandy.
He made up the semester he had lost, was elected class president, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1962 with a B.A. in political science. He married his high school sweetheart, Susan, before earning an M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University, followed by an M.B.A. from Oxford University.
While Sandy was at Oxford, he got a call from Art. This time it was Art who needed help. He had formed a folk-rock duo with his high school friend, Paul Simon, and they needed $400 to record their first album. At the time, Sandy and Susan, had $405 in their bank account, but they didn’t hesitate to give it to Art.
In 1964, Simon & Garfunkel’s first album, Wednesday Morning 3 A.M., was a commercial flop. However, the song The Sound of Silence, released as a single a year later went to No. 1 in America and many countries worldwide. The song was a tribute to Sandy. The opening line, “Hello Darkness, my old friend; I’ve come to talk with you again,” echoed how he always greeted Art.
After Oxford, Sandy launched his first company, a technology processing company. Two years later, with $2 million raised from financial institutions, he started Electronic Data Processing (EDP) in Washington, DC. The ultra-successful company developed audio equipment for the blind, which it licensed to Sony, GE, Matsushita (later Panasonic) and other audio equipment manufacturers.
Committed to eliminating blindness, Sandy announced the Greenberg Prize, a $3 million cash prize to the scientists who contributed the most to the cause of ending blindness. In 2020, the prize was awarded to 13 scientists and researchers.
While Sandy became an accomplished inventor, business executive, and philanthropist, folk-rock stars Simon & Garfunkel performed their music worldwide. Winner of seven Grammy Awards, they have sold 100 million records. In 1990 they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Today, among other activities, Dr. Sandy Greenberg is Chairman of the Board of Governors of Johns Hopkins University’s Wilmer Eye Institute, the largest ophthalmology clinical and research program in the country.
Sandy, 83, and Art, 82, remain best friends. Art is the godfather to Sandy’s three children. “I’m the luckiest man in the world to have met Art Garfunkel,” says Sandy. “He stayed by my side and saved my life.” According to Art, “I’ve known Sandy for more than 60 years. I’ve seen his courage, determination and grit as he built a successful career through extraordinary achievements. I am proud to be his friend.”