SOURCE OF WEALTH: The Renco Group
FUNDING AREAS: Jewish Causes, Education, Arts & Culture
OVERVIEW: Ira and Ingeborg Rennert move their philanthropy through the ILR Ruth Foundation. Their philanthropic interests include Jewish causes, education and arts and culture. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded just over $4 million in grants in 2018.
BACKGROUND: Ira Rennert graduated from Brooklyn College and received his M.B.A. from New York University. He is the founder of the Renco Group, a holding company that invests in industrial and manufacturing operations.
ISSUES:
JEWISH CAUSES: The Rennerts have supported a broad variety of Jewish organizations and causes. Past grantees in Israel include the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, the American Friends of the Open University of Israel and Elem, an organization supporting at-risk youth. It has been reported that the couple has supported Jewish settlements in Palestine. In New York, the Rennerts have supported the Center for Jewish History and the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, where Ira Rennert is an honorary chair.
EDUCATION: The Rennerts’ education philanthropy has prioritized higher education. The couple gave $5 million to launch Boston University’s Elie Weisel Center for Jewish Studies and have endowed professorships and chairs at Barnard College, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Columbia and New York University, where Ira Rennert has served on the board of overseers of the Stern School of Business. In Israel, the Rennerts funded the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies at Barl-Ilan University.
ARTS & CULTURE: The Rennerts have supported Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where Ingeborg Rennert has served on the board of directors.
LOOKING FORWARD: The Rennerts will likely to continue their steady support of Jewish causes.
CONTACT:
The ILR Ruth Foundation does not provide contact information, but below is an address and phone number:
ILR Ruth Foundation
1 Rockefeller Plaza, 29th Floor
New York, NY 10020
212-541-6000
