(c. 1902 – 1991)
Inducted into Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, 1984
The son of Russian immigrants, Suisman’s athletic achievement was primarily in basketball. After graduating from Hartford Public High School, he attended Peddie Institute in New Jersey, where he starred on the school’s team, which won the state championship in 1920. A guard and forward at Yale University during the 1920s, Suisman was an excellent scorer and helped lead Yale to the Ivy League crown in 1923. He also played on the varsity baseball team.
He attended Yale Law School until his father’s death required that he help manage the family business of Suisman & Blumenthal. He continued playing basketball with the Hartford YMHA team and the Hartford Dixies.
Taking over the business that had been started on North Street in Hartford by his father in 1899, Edward and his brother Samuel Suisman turned a small scrap metal processing company into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. Suisman & Blumenthal, known as Aerospace Metals, Inc. today, processes metals such as nickel, cobalt and titanium used in the aerospace industry. The company grew tremendously during World War II, when it processed huge amounts of scrap metal produced by companies such as Pratt & Whitney Aircraft.
His extensive community involvement included being an organizer and early president of the Hartford Jewish Federation. In 1943, he created the Suisman Foundation, which gave large sums to schools, hospitals and social agencies. Recipients included Mount Sinai, St. Francis and Hartford hospitals, the Hartford Jewish Community Center, Yale University and Trinity College.