Koç Family, The

The Koç Family

Year

Affiliation

Areas of Focus

Education | Health | Arts

The late Vehbi Koç, the patriarch of the Koç family, founded his businesses upon the belief that his successes should go hand-in-hand with the prosperity of Turkey and the well-being of its people. This deeply held conviction fueled Vehbi Koç’s achievements as an entrepreneur and a humanitarian. We honor Rahmi Koç as the representative of the entire Koç family, which continues his father’s great legacy of giving.

Andrew Carnegie believed that wealth is a sacred trust that must be used for the good of the community and Rahmi Koç’s commitments epitomize this ideal. We recognize him for his exemplary philanthropic accomplishments in the fields of education, health and culture.

Through the work of the Vehbi Koç Foundation, the first private foundation in Turkey and now one of Europe’s largest, he has sought to improve the quality of Turkey’s healthcare system, to advance the country’s education and to promote the cultural resources of Turkey through the many museums and research centers charged with protecting the country’s heritage. Alongside the Foundation’s investments, the Koç group of companies carries out multiple philanthropic initiatives. In addition, the family has supported many primary and secondary schools and founded Koç University, whose laudable mission is to provide Turkey’s young people with a world-class education, to advance the frontiers of knowledge and to benefit Turkey and humanity at large. Here in New York City, there will soon be a major announcement about their giving in the field of the arts. Koç family, we salute you for your continuing and outstanding philanthropy.

Gallery

Weill, Joan and Sanford

Joan and Sanford Weill

Year

Affiliation

Areas of Focus

Peace Building | Health | Education

The more we can do to create a better society, that benefits more people, the better chance we have that our society will continue to grow and prosper.

Joan and Sanford Weill are honored today for their remarkable philanthropic contributions to medicine, education, and the arts. They have donated many hundreds of millions of dollars that have helped to heal suffering patients, teach knowledge-hungry students and transmit music to generations of grateful music lovers. Their largesse has helped revitalize esteemed institutions including New York’s Carnegie Hall, a member of our own Carnegie family, as well as the Weill Cornell Medical College and Graduate School of Medical Sciences and the Weill Bugando Medical Complex in Tanzania, which proudly bear their name.

Joan Weill is an indefatigable supporter of cultural, civic and philanthropic endeavors. Her generosity, along with her distinguished record of service, has benefitted a host of institutions, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Foundation and Citymeals-on-Wheel, to name but two.

Sanford Weill has drawn on his vast experience as a leader in our country’s financial sectors to launch such impressive initiatives as a joint public-private sector partnership with the New York City Board of Education that established the Academy of Finance to prepare high school students for careers in financial services. He is the founder and chairman of the National Academy Foundation, which oversees more than 500 career-themed academies.

But that is not all. According to a recent issue of BusinessWeek, Weill giving has totaled more than $800 million. Their generosity, along with their distinguished record of service, has benefitted numerous organizations including Sidra, a teaching hospital to be completed in 2011 in Qatar; New York Presbyterian Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

If Andrew Carnegie were alive today, he would thank Joan and Sanford Weill for their imaginative giving, a testament to the fact that we cannot take our wealth with us because shrouds have no pockets.

Gallery

Bloomberg, Michael R.

Michael R. Bloomberg

Year

Affiliation

Areas of Focus

Health | Arts | Education | Environment

Making a difference in people’s lives—and seeing it with your own eyes—is perhaps the most satisfying thing you’ll ever do. If you want to fully enjoy life—give.

Like Andrew Carnegie, Michael Bloomberg is truly a self-made man. In 1981, he began a small start-up company, Bloomberg LP. Today, that company has over 275,000 subscribers to its financial news and information services. Bloomberg embodies the spirit of Andrew Carnegie: he holds dear the conviction that with great wealth comes great responsibility. As his historic public service and consummate philanthropy so clearly illustrate, he has embraced his responsibilities with great humility, yet with exuberance, dedication, and selflessness. His altruism is evident in every corner of New York City and well beyond our borders.

In 2001, he was elected the 108th mayor of New York City. Under his leadership, the city has flourished. Crime is down to record lows, high school graduation rates have reached record highs, New Yorkers are living longer than ever, and the city gets greener and greater every day. But today, we celebrate his philanthropy.

His support in the areas of public health, medical research, education, arts and culture, and social services is extraordinary. But what truly sets him apart is his approach to giving. He has not only generously funded tried and true institutions; he has taken risks on less proven programs and smaller organizations. He brings resources and attention to causes that have long been ignored—focusing on issues that are both specific and solvable, like his groundbreaking programs to reduce tobacco use, improve global road safety, and remove illegal guns from the streets of our cities. And across all of his giving there is a focus on innovation and a rigorous assessment of data.

We all rejoiced in the fact that the Chronicle of Philanthropy named him the country’s leading individual living donor in 2008.

Gallery

Moore, Betty and Gordon

Betty and Gordon Moore

Year

Affiliation

Areas of Focus

Science | Environment | Health

We strive to achieve measurable outcomes on important issues in these areas, and we believe in taking risks in order to innovate and learn.

Betty and Gordon Moore are an extraordinary couple. We honor them today for their great benevolence over many decades. They are committed stewards of our planet, but have not forgotten their nation, nor their native San Francisco where their multifaceted gifts bear the mark of their care. But most of all, they champion basic science and the health of science-based institutions.

Through the work of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which they established in 2000 with a gift of some $5 billion, they have made great strides maintaining the Amazon basin; fighting the extinction of our earth’s rarest species; preserving marine ecosystems and advancing the field of marine microbiology; safeguarding the salmon of the Pacific Northwest; improving patient care and nursing in Bay Area hospitals; and supporting San Francisco’s science museums.

Today we also celebrate, Gordon Moore, as co-founder of Intel, a founding father of Silicon Valley, a seminal figure in the history of computing, and past distinguished Chairman of the Board of the California Institute of Technology.

Betty and Gordon Moore embody Andrew Carnegie’s deeply held belief that with education humankind can “erect the structure of an enduring civilization.” Their foundation’s $300 million commitment to Caltech, matched by their personal gift of $300 million, made the venerable Caltech the recipient of the largest-ever donation to an institution of higher learning, to the great benefit of the university’s students, science departments, Thirty Meter Telescope, and many other projects. But Caltech is not alone. They have supported such eminent institutions as the University of California at Berkeley and others that, like their foundation, are committed to basic science and excellence. Betty and Gordon Moore are and will remain an inspiration to current and future generations. This nation, indeed all nations, are grateful to you.

Gallery