Marcia and Robert Ascher were actively involved in Ithaca's Jewish community for more than 50 years. Marcia Ascher died in 2013 and Robert Ascher died in 2014. In a final gesture of support, the couple bequeathed a $500,000 endowment to the Ithaca Area United Jewish Community.

These funds continuously support local Jewish institutions and the IAUJC campership program.

Robert, a Cornell University professor emeritus of anthropology, and Marcia, an Ithaca College professor emerita of mathematics, were longtime members of Temple Beth-El. In the 1970s, the couple created a Holocaust library at Temple Beth-El when they contributed 80 volumes to the synagogue. Marcia also helped establish the first board of directors for Ithaca College's Hillel, which supports Jewish activities on campus.

To honor their contributions, the IAUJC sponsored an event on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015, at Emerson Suites at Ithaca College. 
 

Barbara C. Johnson, a professor emerita of anthropology at Ithaca College, presented a talk on the Jewish women's folksongs from Kerala in southern India in honor of the Aschers' ethnographic interests.