SOURCE OF WEALTH: Avista Capital Partners
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Arts & Culture, Health & Human Services
OVERVIEW: Thompson and Caroline Dean conduct their philanthropy through the Thompson Dean Family Foundation. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded over $1.7 million in grants in 2017. The Deans focus primarily on educational institutions and the arts on the East Coast. Dean has given tens of millions to his alma mater University of Virginia.
BACKGROUND: Thompson Dean received a B.A. from the University of Virginia in 1979, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1984. In 2005, he cofounded Avista Capital Partners.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION: Thompson Dean steadily supports his alma mater UVA, and recently committed more than $40 million in present and future support to the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Through the years, he has given his school more than $52 million, including several million alone to UVA’s Department of Athletics. Other grantees have included Eaglebrook School, Choate Rosemary Hall, Harvard, Teaching Matters, Phillips Academy, and Choate Rosemary Hall.
ARTS & CULTURE: Grantees have included Museum of the City of New York, Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York City Ballet, Second Stage Theatre, and the Met.
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: The family supports Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, Ovarian Cancer Research, Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering, Silver Hill Hospital, and New York Collaborates for Autism. Dean is former chairman of the special projects committee of Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital.
LOOKING FORWARD: Expect Dean’s focus on New York and the Northeast to continue.
CONTACT:
Thompson Dean Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact but below is address and phone:
Thompson Dean Family Foundation
57 W. 38th St., 3rd Fl.
New York City, NY 10018
Telephone: 212-661-2720
