B’nai B’rith International has announced the recipient of the 2026 Sally and George Schneider Scholarship, awarded annually to a deserving Jewish female graduate student in the metropolitan New York area enrolled in a program that benefits humankind.

This year’s scholarship has been awarded to Elizabeth Katanov.

Katanov is a second-year medical student at the State University of New York’s (SUNY) Downstate College of Medicine. She holds a bachelor’s degree with departmental honors in biology and received a distinction for excellence in scientific research from Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY), where she graduated magna cum laude.

Jewish life has played a central role throughout Katanov’s academic journey. She completed a special honors major as part of the Thomas Hunter Honors Program at Hunter College, with a culminating thesis on global anti-Semitism in the post-Oct. 7 world. Katanov has also volunteered with Hillel and Dorot, is a student leader with the Maimonides Society and serves on the alumni advisory board of American Sephardi Federation’s Sephardi House.

Health care and advocacy have also been important throughout her studies. Katanov is an executive board member of the American Medical Women’s Association and previously served on the executive board of Rho Psi Eta, a pre-health student organization for women.

Katanov—who held her first job at 13—says she understands the impact a compassionate figure can have on one’s life and said she will “strive to embody that sensitivity throughout my studies and ultimately as a physician taking care of patients.”

Sally Schneider, born in Brooklyn in 1919, was a voracious reader and a passionate supporter of Israel who believed strongly in women’s independence and education. She and her husband, George, were longtime B’nai B’rith members. Following Sally Schneider’s death in 1998, the family established an endowment fund in their honor.