SOURCE OF WEALTH: Owner of New York Daily News, US News & World Report; Boston Properties
FUNDING AREAS: Education & STEM, Health, Jewish Causes
OVERVIEW: Zuckerman has a charitable organization called the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Foundation, which flies under the radar and lists negligible assets and grantmaking in recent tax years. Zuckerman, however, has made several large grants over the years, including a $200 million gift to Columbia University to endow the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute. More recently, Zuckerman gave $100 million to create the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program, to support graduate level and post-doc scientists in the U.S., and extend their training at four leading science and technology institutions in Israel.
BACKGROUND: Born in Montreal, Mortimer B. Zuckerman is a graduate of McGill University, where he received an undergraduate degree in 1957 and a degree in law. He went on to get an MBA from Wharton School and an LLM from Harvard Law School. Zuckerman cofounded Boston Properties, a real estate investment trust, in 1970 and took it public in 1997. He also owns US News & World Report and the New York Daily News.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & STEM: Zuckerman gave $100 million to create the Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program which “supports future generations of leaders in science, technology, engineering, and math in the United States and Israel and, over time, fosters greater collaboration between the world’s most advanced scientific research centers.” The program’s participating Israeli universities are Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv University, and the Weizmann Institute of Science. In the past, Zuckerman has supported his alma mater Harvard University, where a gift last decade created a fellowship program. He has also supported New York University, where an older grants created a debate competition.
HEALTH: Cancer has affected people close to Zuckerman. He sits on Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s board and is a former president of the board of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Last decade, he gave a large $100 million grant to Sloan Kettering. He also gave $200 million to Columbia University to endow the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute.
JEWISH CAUSES: Zuckerman has been active in the Jewish community and was the chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations from 2001 to 2003.
LOOKING FORWARD: Zuckerman is in his eighties and his recent STEM efforts should be watched carefully. His foundation’s long-term goal is to ensure that the Zuckerman Scholars and the program’s related educational activities continue in perpetuity. It is unclear if this is the same Mortimer B. Zuckerman Foundation which has mot really been active lately, or another vehicle. Zuckerman is also a collector of contemporary art, so his collection is in play, too.
CONTACT:
The Mortimer B. Zuckerman Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact, but below is an address:
The Mortimer B. Zuckerman Foundation
510 Madison Avenue, Suite 2901
New York, NY 10022
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