Film version of Sandy’s memoir, Hello Darkness, My Old Friend, on track for 2027 release. Click here for more.

Photo Gallery

Click on any image in the gallery to open a larger view. Use the arrows on the sides to move through the slideshow.

International Connections

Sandy with Helen Suzman in South Africa in 1966. One of the founders of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party, Suzman was its only representative in the 160-member House of Assembly at the time of their meeting.

While in South Africa, Sandy also met in Johannesburg with Harry Oppenheimer, the nation’s leading industrialist for nearly half a century and often cited as one of the world’s richest men.

Meeting with young people in one of the homelands set aside for the Bantu under South Africa’s apartheid policy.

Sandy with long-time Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek in his home on the Sabbath, shortly after the city was reunited following the 1967 “Six Day War.”

Sandy and Sue at their Watergate home, hosting one of the first Chinese delegations to visit Washington, DC. At the time, Sandy was a director of the National Committee on US-China Relations.

Sandy with Chai Zemin, the first ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the U.S. after formal diplomatic relations were established in 1979.

Sandy with King (then Prince) Charles at a gathering of Marshall Scholars. Prince Charles was royal patron of the Marshall program.

Sandy being interviewed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Sandy at the Davos World Economic Forum with Indian billionaire Rahul Bajaj, then chairman emeritus of the Bajaj Group conglomerate. Bajaj died in 2022.

Arts, Science, & Technology

Sandy with the compressed speech machine he invented and patented in the late 1960s.

Sandy in Brussels with chemist Donald Hornig, then Science Adviser to President Lyndon Johnson. As a member of the World War Two Manhattan Project, Hornig designed the electrical switching device that triggered the first atomic bomb. He later was president of Brown University.

Sandy (7th from right) visiting the John F. Kennedy Space Center as a White House Fellow in 1966/67 — the trip that sparked the vision behind his future company’s integral role in the historic Apollo 11 lunar mission.

James Goddard (left), Commissioner of the Food & Drug Administration under Lyndon Johnson, and Orville Freedman, Secretary of Agriculture under both Johnson and John F. Kennedy, would both join Sandy in 1969 when he launched his own high-tech company.

Sandy when he was CEO of EDP. “I don’t believe my blindness is relevant,” Sandy told author David l. Goodrich for his 1971 book Horatio Alger Is Alive and Well and Living in America: Success Stories of the Under-30 Generation. “I’m judged on the basis of my performance, not my ability to get around.” (Photo by Jack Silver, silver images)

Reunion of Sandy and Leon Lederman, Sandy’s physics professor at Columbia, at the National Science Board celebration honoring Dr. Lederman. A recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Professor Lederman played a key role in developing the intellectual platform that led to Sandy’s early successes in science-based enterprises.

With neuroscientist Eric Kandel following their appearance on a “Charlie Rose Show” devoted to blindness. Kandel was co-winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

With Booker Prize winning novelist Margaret Atwood. As a Harvard graduate student, Atwood volunteered to read to blind fellow-students.

Sandy with the celebrated blind tenor Andrea Bocelli at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Sandy with actor and two-time Academy Award winner Michael Douglas, at the 2007 gathering of the World Economic Forum.

Sandy and Wynton Marsalis in the Supreme Court.

Presidents & Public Servants

President Lyndon Johnson was thrilled to learn that four of the “Ten Most Outstanding Young Men of America” for 1966-67 were working for him. From left, they are Les Brown, William Carpenter, Sandy, and future HEW Secretary Joseph Califano.

Sandy, as a White House Fellow, visiting with then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

Sandy was a White House Fellow when he first met Bill Moyers, then serving as Lyndon Johnson’s press secretary and special assistant—the beginning of a lifetime friendship.

Sandy, at center, with Sen. Edward (Ted) Kennedy, left, and his brother Sen. and former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

One-on-one with Robert F. Kennedy. Sandy’s 1966 fact-finding mission to South Africa (see above) was at Sen. Kennedy’s behest.

Sandy and Ted Kennedy. Raised in utterly different environments, the two had a long and fruitful relationship.

With Sargent Shriver, architect of the Peace Corps and the 1960’s War on Poverty. In 1976, Shriver asked Sandy to direct his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sandy declined.

A presidential parentheses: Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter on either side of Sandy.

Sandy goes up for a shot against former Sen. Bill Bradley, an all-American at Princeton and a long-time New York Knick. Sandy can sense the location of the basket by the flow of people around him.

Sue and Sandy with Maine Sen. and U.S. Secretary of State Ed Muskie and his wife, Jane. The inscription reads in part: “I am extremely grateful for everything you have done for me.”

With President Bill Clinton, who appointed Sandy to the National Science Board, which operates the National Science Foundation.

With then-Vice President Al Gore. The inscription reads: “For my great friend Sandy Greenberg, with deepest respect and appreciation for all your help.”

Sandy and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, whose Jewish parents fled Nazi Germany. Wyden’s father lived to see his son elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980 and the U.S. Senate for the first time in 1996.

Mentors, Colleagues, & Dear Friends

Sandy with his invaluable mentor and lifelong friend David Rockefeller. The two met through the White House Fellows program, which Rockefeller helped found.

Sandy with Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of Teddy Roosevelt and a long-time doyen of Washington society.

With his Watergate neighbor and dear friend Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Sandy with Nina and Tim Zagat, founders of the famous Zagat Restaurant Surveys. Sandy and Tim met in 1960 when they were both campaigning across New England colleges for John F. Kennedy.

Sandy and Art Garfunkel at the reopening after 100 years of Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC. The celebration was hosted by Sue and Sandy.

Sanford Greenberg carrying Art Garfunkel on his back — Sandy and Art Garfunkel: “He’s not heavy; he’s my brother!”

Sandy and Art Garfunkel retraced Sandy’s harrowing 1962 New York City subway ride for a 2016 National Geographic special issue on blindness.

Old friends sat on the park bench like bookends: Sandy and Art Garfunkel revisiting Columbia University, for a 2018 Readers Digest article.

Class Reunion! Sandy with college roommates Art Garfunkel, center, and Jerry Speyer, at Paul Greenberg’s wedding in 2000.

Sandy with Michael Bloomberg, left, and Columbia roommate Jerry Speyer.

Sandy and Kathryn aren’t the only dancing Greenbergs: Here, Sue rocks & rolls with then-Vice President Al Gore.

Sandy and Tipper Gore, tripping the light fantastic — a phrase that traces back to John Milton’s 1632 poem L’Allegro.

Sandy and Sue with Bob Dole, the longtime Republican leader of the U.S. Senate and 1996 Republican presidential nominee.

Sue and Sandy with Elizabeth Dole, also a U.S. Senator, Secretary of Transportation under Ronald Reagan, and Secretary of Labor under George H. W. Bush. The Doles and Greenbergs have been Watergate neighbors for decades. The event was the annual Bark Ball fundraiser for the Humane Rescue Alliance.

Awards & Celebrations

June 1962: Overshadowed by a statue of Columbia University founder Alexander Hamilton, Sandy delivers his valedictory address to fellow Columbia College graduates.

Television host Art Linkletter presenting Sandy with the 1974 Man of the Year award from the Young President’s Organization, at a ceremony in Acapulco, Mexico.

Sandy (as a fellow of Brandeis University) with congressman and Buffalo Bills quarterback Jack Kemp and Justice William Brennan, one of Sandy’s “wise elders.” Kemp’s advice to “throw deep” has played a key role in Sandy's life.

Sue and Sandy at his induction into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences,
October 2016. — Sue and Sandy at his induction into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, October 2016.

Sandy receiving Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Centennial Medal, reserved for alumni who "have made a lasting impact to knowledge, to their disciplines, to their colleagues, and to society at large."

Sandy and Sue at the 2025 centennial celebration of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore.

Sandy and Johns Hopkins University president Ron Daniels deep in conversation at the Wilmer Centennial.

Family

Sanford Greenberg as a child with his grandmother, Pauline — Sandy cradled in the arms of his grandmother Pauline. “She risked everything to get to this country,” Sandy once said, “and I’ve been riding on her shoulders all along the way.”

Sandy and his younger brother, Joel, with their parents, Sarah and Albert. Albert died suddenly when Sandy was five years old, leaving Sarah with three children and $54 to raise them.

Sandy was 10 years old when his mother, in the Jewish tradition, married Albert’s brother, Carl, and the family finally had a home of their own.

Little did Wynton Marsalis know that he was talking with another trumpet virtuoso: Sandy performing here during his 8th-grade Class Day, in Buffalo.

Sanford Greenberg and his Buick — A boy and his Buick. Does life get better than this?!

Sandy and Sue dancing at their wedding in 1962. Sandy insisted the band include an unknown vocalist named Art Garfunkel.

Sandy and his second father Carl in the very early 1970s. Out of concern for Sandy’s safety, Carl resisted his returning to Columbia after he lost his sight, but Carl stood by him all the way.

Sandy with a very young Kathryn. Who’s leading whom?

Sandy with sons Jimmy on his shoulder and Paul in his arm.

Sandy and Sue with children Kathryn (top), Paul (right), and Jimmy (center bottom) guarding a cake celebrating his 14th birthday.

Sandy and Sue with grandchildren
(from left) Milo, Sasha, Eli, and Jordan. — Sandy and Sue with grandchildren (from left) Milo, Sasha, Eli, and Jordan.

Sandy, his sister Brenda Schmand, and Hillary Clinton at the White House in September 1993. The First Lady had just announced her new health-care initiative.

Two decades later Sandy and Kathryn are still holding hands in this still from a dance video, but the question remains: Who’s leading whom? (To see the full video, please visit the Video Library under this same “Media” tab.)

Sandy with sons Paul (left) and Jimmy.

Sandy and daughter Kathryn together in Sarasota, Florida.

Sue and Sandy at Davos, Switzerland, in 2007.

Sandy with his siblings (from left) Joel, Brenda, and Ruth.