Alumna Susan Liebenow Establishes Scholarship to Honor Prof. Robert Karch
Robert Karch's retirement party (from left to right: Stacey Snelling, Susan Liebenow, Robert Karch, and Karen Karch)
At American University, mentorship often lasts a lifetime. For alumna Susan Liebenow (MS health fitness management ’82), her time as a graduate student of Professor Emeritus Robert “Bob” Karch marked the beginning of a decades-long relationship that shaped her career, her company, and her life.
Now, thanks to Liebenow’s generosity—along with support from longtime Board of Trustees member and AU alumnus Alan L. Meltzer and his wife Amy—the Dr. Robert Karch Health Studies Endowed Scholarship Fund has been established to support graduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Health Studies.
“I wanted to continue Bob’s legacy through this scholarship,” Liebenow says. “It will support and recognize students who exemplify his passion for Health Studies—and carry forward his leadership in pioneering this industry.”
The endowed scholarship will provide annual merit-based awards to graduate students pursuing degrees in Health Studies, expanding access and affordability while honoring the pioneering spirit that defined Karch’s career.
“Our Health Studies graduate programs prepare the next generation of leaders to learn and prepare for the health challenges of tomorrow,” says College of Arts and Sciences Dean Linda Aldoory. “This scholarship expands access for talented students to be trained by the best, here at AU, while also honoring Professor Karch’s lasting legacy as a mentor, teacher, coach, and colleague to generations of Eagles.”
A Vision Ahead of Its Time
Liebenow was among the first students in Karch’s Health Fitness Management Program (which later grew into the Department of Health Studies). In 1979, while coaching tennis and working as the membership director at Georgetown University’s Yates Field House, she met Robert Karch while giving him a tour. As he described his plan to launch a graduate program at American University that combined science, anatomy, physiology, and business, she could imagine the field taking shape. When he encouraged her to join that inaugural class, she applied for admission and was accepted.
“He was able to share his vision and excitement about the field with all of us,” Liebenow recalls. “As the first class of students, we shared that vision. We could feel the potential.”
That early sense of possibility reflected the scope of what Karch was creating at American University.
After more than five decades on the faculty, Karch retired from American University in 2025. Since joining the faculty in 1969, he helped shape the university’s Health Studies program, most notably through the 1979 launch of the Fitness Management Program. The initiative marked a turning point for the emerging field, establishing a rigorous academic foundation that bridged scientific research and organizational leadership. Today, more than 500 alumni of the program are advancing health initiatives across the world.
His influence extends well beyond curriculum design. Karch founded the National Center for Health Fitness, helping organizations understand the value of investing in employee well-being, and later established the International Institute of Health Promotion to connect global leaders focused on evidence-based strategies to address chronic disease. He also served for more than 20 years as American University’s NCAA Faculty Representative, further reflecting his deep commitment to student development and institutional leadership.
Through these efforts, Karch helped shape both the academic foundation and professional practice of modern health promotion.
From Classroom to Career
The wide range of backgrounds in the program's inaugural cohort made it especially powerful. Lawyers, an FBI agent, business professionals, and other graduate students who shared Karch’s vision studied side by side. “It was such a great bunch of people,” Liebenow says. “The range of experiences was one of the best parts of the program.”
In fact, Liebenow first met Sue Torok, who would become her friend and business partner, in one of the program’s marketing classes. After graduation, the two decided to take an ambitious leap: they bid on a contract to manage the fitness center for the Department of Justice.
They won the contract, and in 1984, Liebenow and Torok launched the partnership that became L&T Health and Fitness. Over the next 30 years, the company managed wellness programs for federal agencies, including the IRS, the White House, and the Departments of Commerce, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development. They later expanded into the corporate sector, eventually becoming part of a joint venture with Karch and a leading Japanese sports and fitness organization.
“Thanks to Bob and the program he created, I had a great career with wonderful employees,” Liebenow says. “It was a good time to be in the health and wellness industry.”
Liebenow and Torok retired in 2014, closing a remarkable chapter that began in Karch’s classroom. Throughout it all, Karch remained more than a professor. “He was my teacher, my mentor, my business partner, and he is also my lifelong friend,” Liebenow says.
One Coach's Influence
For Alan Meltzer, Karch’s influence began even earlier. As a student-athlete at AU, Meltzer wrestled—and Karch was his coach. Decades later, their bond remains strong.
“Simply put, people need mentors, I could not have had a better mentor in Dr. Robert Karch,” Meltzer explains. “The way I feel about him is epitomized in one word: Coach. He has been my coach since 1969, and still is, at 75 years of age.”
Meltzer went on to build a successful career in the insurance industry, and in a full-circle moment, Karch helped connect Meltzer’s firm with Liebenow’s growing business.
With this contribution to the Dr. Robert Karch Health Studies Endowed Scholarship Fund, the Meltzer family continues their extraordinary, 50-year commitment to AU through leadership, service, and philanthropy. Most recently, they made a $10 million gift for AU’s new athletics facility, which will be named the Alan and Amy Meltzer Center for Athletic Performance. This gift followed an initial $5 million commitment from the Meltzers in 2019 to support the center. They have donated more to American University’s Change Can’t Wait comprehensive fundraising campaign than any other individuals to date.
To Continue the Legacy
The establishment of the Dr. Robert Karch Health Studies Endowed Scholarship Fund ensures that Karch’s influence will extend far beyond his retirement.
For Liebenow, the decision was simple. “Bob changed the trajectory of my life,” she says. “This is a way to make sure future students have the same opportunity—to be inspired, to build something meaningful, and to carry the field forward.”
If you would like to help continue this great work, your gift to the Dr. Robert Karch Health Studies Endowed Scholarship Fund ensures that future students have the same inspiration and opportunities that shaped Susan Liebenow’s career.