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JANUARY 2008

Corporate Contributions To Education
Michael Steinhardt:
Legendary
Financier Turned Philanthropist

By Emily Sherwood, Ph.D.
                                                   
What do you do when you’ve risen to the top  of your profession and achieved undreamed-of  financial success? If you’re Michael Steinhardt,  who grew up on the streets of Brooklyn, graduated  from the University of Pennsylvania’s  Wharton School before his twentieth birthday,  and became one of the world’s first and most successful  hedge fund managers (his firm, Steinhardt  Partners, L.P., managed $4.4 billion in assets and  routinely boasted annual returns well over 20  percent), you close up shop and devote your life  to philanthropy.

“Since I stopped managing money [in 1995],  I have devoted just about all my energy to a  vision of a very different Jewish future,” explains  Steinhardt when interviewed in his spacious midtown  office, which is filled with a dazzling array  of silver and artwork. Steinhardt’s prodigious  talents are indeed shaping the Jewish community  in ways that he might not have predicted at his  “retirement” twelve years ago. From a founding  role in PEJE (Partnership for Excellence  in Jewish Education) and Birthright Israel to  major funding roles in just about every prominent  Jewish organization on the map—including  The Foundation for Jewish Camping, Jewish  Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI),  B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO), Hillel,  Brandeis University, Tel Aviv University, and  the Israel Museum, to name just a few—Michael  Steinhardt has lent inspiration and support to,  in his words, “take the present, non-orthodox  Jewish community to a much better place.”

To illustrate the need for his mission, Steinhardt  throws out a challenge: “Name five great Jewish  [religious] leaders of the twentieth century.” Aha,  laughs Steinhardt at the silence his query evokes,  knowing that he’s made his case. It is easy to  name 500 great secular leaders who were Jews  (Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Albert Einstein,  Saul Bellow, and Sandy Koufax might lead the  list of standouts in their professions), because,  he points out, “Jews get their pride from secular  accomplishments.” By working to improve  Jewish education from pre-school through adulthood,  Steinhardt hopes to make his mark on the  future of the Jewish Diaspora: “We are a people  who are fading, and I’m trying to reverse that,” he  adds passionately.

Of the dozens of causes he’s embraced,  Steinhardt singles out Birthright Israel, created in  1999 to offer every young Jewish person between  the ages of 18 to 26 a living and learning experience  in Israel, as “the single, most important program  in the Jewish world in the last half century.”  Founded by Steinhardt and Seagram heir and  philanthropist Charles Bronfman, in cooperation  with the Israeli government, private philanthropists,  and Jewish communities around the world,  Birthright Israel has provided a free round-trip  ticket to Israel, combined with an intensive tenday  educational experience, to 147,000 young  Jewish adults from 52 countries (70 percent of  them are Americans). “The trip creates an extraordinary  spark…There’s an immediate heightening  of Jewish identity,” explains Steinhardt, who has  now thrown himself into a sequel program known  as Birthright Next, a series of activities intended  to connect and engage Birthright Israel graduates.  As one of its kickoff activities, Birthright Next  staged a globally televised Chanukah party last  month in sites as diverse as Russia, Mumbai and  Los Angeles. “Through technology, we are now  able to celebrate all over the world at once,” adds  Steinhardt proudly.

A passionate believer in the power of education  to transform all of society, Steinhardt has generously  supported New York University (NYU),  where he serves on their Board of Trustees and  heads up their Trustee Investment Committee. His  involvement ultimately led him to donate generously  to their school of education, now called  the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education,  and Human Development, reflecting the interdisciplinary  nature of their academic programs.  (The school offers a Ph.D. program in Education  and Jewish Studies, thanks to Steinhardt.) “It is  extremely important that the perception of the  teacher be elevated in society,” reflects Steinhardt  on the long-term viability of public education in  America. “It’s not going to be a budget buster for  anyone, and it shows that our society really cares  about education.”

Not all of Steinhardt’s ideas have hit home  runs, and he’s the first to admit that “to be an  innovator, you don’t always win.” Several years  ago, he tried unsuccessfully with Bard President  and educational visionary Leon Botstein to create  a secular Jewish high school in New York City,  and he’s now hoping to convince NYC Schools  Chancellor Joel Klein to create a Hebrew language  charter school in the city. “I will bet I’m  going to fail,” he adds with a twinkle in his eye.  But one guesses that, whatever the outcome of  his latest project, Steinhardt will continue to use  his boundless energy and intelligence to explore  creative ideas and ultimately instigate meaningful  changes to improve educational opportunities for  both Jews and non-Jews alike. “It’s a long life  you lead, and if you’re lucky enough to find some  occupation that’s compelling to you, that touches  you at the deepest levels, you are extremely  fortunate,” he muses philosophically. Clearly,  Steinhardt has found many such occupations, and  the world is a better place because of him.#

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