SOURCE OF WEALTH: Four Partners
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Arts & Culture, Health, Jewish Causes
OVERVIEW: Thomas and Alice Tisch conduct their philanthropy through the Alice M. and Thomas J. Tisch Foundation. According to available tax filings, the foundation disbursed $4.5 million in grants in 2017. The couple strongly support Brown University. Other interests include the arts and health. New York City is a significant region of giving.
BACKGROUND: Thomas J. Tisch graduated with a B.A. from Brown University in 1976 and earned a J.D. from the New York University School of Law in 1979. Tisch is managing partner of Four Partners, an investment firm in New York City.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Tisch has been on the board of Brown University since 2002 and was the 20th chancellor of Brown. Though the couple do not have any naming gifts, they are among Brown’s largest benefactors. In one recent year alone, the Tisches gave the school more than $6 million. Other grantees have included New York University (Tisch has been on the board), Barnard College, Edible Schoolyard NYC, KIPP NYC, Harlem Children’s Zone, and Yale University, which received nearly $1 million recently.
ARTS & CULTURE: The Tisches have given strong support to MoMA (Alice is on the board) and The Met. Other grantees have included Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, International Center of Photography, Guggenheim Museum, LACMA, Carnegie Hall Society, and Apollo Theater Foundation.
HEALTH: Grantees have included Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and NYU Hospitals Center. The couple are trustees of NYU Langone Health, and Alice has led their pediatrics initiative, KiDS of NYU, for more than two decades.
JEWISH CAUSES: Alice was president of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, which the family supports. Other grantees include The Jewish Museum, the Tikvah Fund, and Brown RISD Hillel.
OTHER: The couple have supported policy organizations such as Manhattan Institute.
LOOKING FORWARD: Expect the couple’s steady giving to continue, with a continued focus on New York City. Tisch also has a vehicle called the Thomas J. Tisch Family Foundation, though, like other Tisch siblings, the charity does not appear to be active.
CONTACT:
The Alice M. and Thomas J. Tisch Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact but below is an address:
Alice M. And Thomas J. Tisch Foundation Inc.
655 Madison Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10065
