Carnegie Medals Recognize Catalysts for Giving
Friday, October 23, 2009
By: Susan Carey Dempsey

This week, the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy was awarded to outstanding individual philanthropists and family foundations who have embodied Andrew Carnegie's ideals.

Drawing parallels to the Nobel Prize in honoring individual contributions to society, the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy recognizes individuals who live in the same spirit as Andrew Carnegie: “private wealth for the public good.”

The awardees gathered on October 15 at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at 42^nd Street and Fifth Avenue, an appropriate site given its namesake’s $100 million gift. The venerable library was named for the financier last year in recognition of his philanthropic support, which jump-started a $1 billion capital campaign.

Hosted by Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Medals are awarded every two years to recognize individuals and families with exceptional and sustained records of philanthropic giving. The Carnegie Medals are intended to celebrate “catalytic philanthropy” of this kind, as well as social investment. onPhilanthropy spoke with some of the honorees, who reflected on the ripple effect which their philanthropy engenders, in addition to the immediate financial benefit.

Joan and Sanford (Sandy) Weill were honored for their work over the past half century with philanthropic support totaling more than $800 million. Most evident in the New York City area, their name is attached to important institutions such as Carnegie Hall, Cornell Medical College and Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and health care programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, New York Presbyterian Hospital and others.

Sanford Weill chairs Carnegie Hall and Weill Cornell Medical College, as well as the National Academy Foundation, which oversees more than 500 career-themed 

Academies for high-school students in 40 states as well as the District of Columbia. Joan Weill chairs the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation and Paul Smith’s College of the Adirondacks. The Weills co-chair the White Nights Foundation of America, dedicated to strengthening relationships between Russia and the United States.

In the past year, as the economic crisis devastated many philanthropists and the organizations who depend on their support, Sanford Weill announced that he was accelerating his $170 million pledge to Weill Cornell College. Speaking with onPhilanthropy at the Carnegie Medal presentation, Weill discussed that action, saying it was consistent with his belief that philanthropists should set an example for others: “My wife and I believe we should promote philanthropy with our actions. At this time, when the organizations need it more, I wanted to encourage others to step up. When philanthropists contribute in times like these, it’s worth even more than if they had given two years ago.”

Both Joan and Sandy Weill talked about the joy they find in philanthropy, with Joan Weill citing the satisfaction of “helping to show young people what they can do,” as well as getting involved with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, “cultural ambassadors to the world.”

The Academy of Finance which the Weills created grew out of a public-private partnership with the New York City Board of Education. “Public-private partnerships are very important,” Sandy Weill told onPhilanthropy. “You can’t just look to the government to do everything. We’ve seen the impact private wealth can have on public institutions.”

The Carnegie Medals also honored the work of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg as well as  Gordon and Betty Moore. Bloomberg was cited by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as the leading individual living donor in the United States in 2008. A major contributor to Johns Hopkins University, his name is affixed to its renowned School of Public Health. His philanthropy often supports causes that have been his focus in government life, such as disease prevention, reducing tobacco use, and removing illegal guns from city streets. His innovative encouragement of the public-private partnership model has supported many initiatives, especially the philanthropic support of New York City schools.

Medalists Betty and Gordon Moore were cited for their philanthropy, primarily to Caltech, consistent with their foundation’s evidence-based focus on institutions they believe can produce “significant and measurable” results. The Intel founder and his wife intended the Caltech gift to keep the institution “at the forefront of research and technology.”  Other gifts to Caltech and the University of California will help their efforts to build the world’s largest optical telescope.

In addition to science and environmental conservation, the Moores invest in their passion for quality health care and the San Francisco Bay Area, recently expanding a 10-year Betty Irene Moore Nursing Initiative intended to improve patient safety and outcomes through nurse-led initiatives in acute care hospitals within the area.

An interesting note in this year’s presentations was the inclusion of only the seventh international awardee in the medal’s history. This year, a Carnegie Medal was awarded to the Koç Family, whose philanthropy in Turkey is dedicated to the country’s healthcare and educational systems and the promotion of its cultural heritage. In speaking with onPhilanthropy, Semahat Arsel spoke of the focus of her family’s foundation, for which the medal was being accepted by her brother Rahmi Koç. “My late father founded it to encourage other Turks to engage in philanthropy,” she said. “When he created it 40 years ago, we didn’t have laws to provide the basis for philanthropy, so he had to fight to institute such laws.” The Vehbi Koç Foundation, which had been the first private foundation in Turkey, is now one of the largest in Europe. Arsel said the award, which she called a “gift,” would encourage greater interaction and connection between European foundations like her family’s and philanthropies in America.

About the Author

Susan Carey Dempsey, Editor-in-Chief of onPhilanthropy, is Managing Partner of CauseWired Communications, a consulting firm advising nonprofits and causes on effective articulation of their messages. She can be reached at susan@causewired.com