 In addition, Free University of Berlin, as the first German institution of higher education, founded an alumni- and fundraising organization, the Friends of the Freie Universität Berlin (FFUB) in New York.Since 2003 this alumni- and fundraising organization has maintained close contact to alumni and scientists of the Free University of Berlin in the U.S. and attempts to gain alumni and friends as sponsors, to strengthen the long-lasting trans-Atlantic relations.Some of the proceeds from these fundraising activities were contributed to the renovation of the Henry Ford Building.