His early years were filled with hardship. At the age of twelve, he was forced to flee with his family to Hong Kong to escape the perils of war. Soon after, his father died of tuberculosis and, as the eldest son, he had to abandon school to become the family’s provider, an experience that gave him a deep appreciation of the need for better educational opportunities and health care. When he was only fourteen years old, he was laboring sixteen hours a day in a plastics manufacturing company. But by age twenty-two, he had his own factory that, in time, became the largest maker and exporter of plastics in Hong Kong. Today, as the chairman of the immensely successful global corporations, Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa, he devotes much of his time and wealth to helping others.

The Li Ka Shing Foundation, which you established in 1980, has provided more than $1.6 billion to support creative, constructive, and sustainable projects in education, health care, culture, and the arts. Shantou University, which he founded in 1981 in his hometown, is meant to engineer reforms in China’s education. His far-reaching altruism reflects his faith in the power of combined efforts, the importance of those who are too often overlooked, and the responsibility to lift one another up. As his foundation has grown, he has introduced Asia to a culture of giving. He serves as an example to others so that they may join him in a new spirit of philanthropy that will transcend the traditional values requiring wealth to pass through lineage.

In his dedication to social progress, innovation, and creativity, he lives by Andrew Carnegie’s words, which could well be his own: “There is nothing inherently valuable in mere money worth striving for, unless it is to be administered as a sacred trust for the good of others.” For his sacrifice of time, energy, and resources to helping others regardless of race, class, or circumstance, we honor Li Ka-shing and offer our sincere thanks.

In his teenage years, during the Nazi occupation of his country, he undertook his first business venture and used the earnings to finance his education. After earning his degree, Kavli emigrated and put his entrepreneurial and scientific expertise to work in the United States, eventually founding the Kavlico Corporation, one of the world’s largest suppliers of sensors for aeronautic, automotive, and industrial applications. At the pinnacle of his success, he selflessly channeled the experiences and achievements of his lifetime into a campaign to further scientific research and education with the potential for positive and lasting impact on the human condition.

Kavli has written of his respect for Andrew Carnegie and of his feelings that his spirit and service wove philanthropy into the very fabric of the United States. Carnegie also shared Kavli’s appreciation of science, as this excerpt from a 1906 speech makes clear: “The recent discoveries that have startled the world are sublime, and appeal with intense force to the imaginative faculties of man. The scientific man of today lives in an atmosphere of wonder, arousing all his higher powers and compelling reverence.” Like Andrew Carnegie, Kavli is a global benefactor, sponsoring research institutes and scientific programs at leading universities in China, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Like Andrew Carnegie, having provided for his family, Kavli put the remainder of his assets into The Kavli Foundation. We are filled with gratitude and admiration for Kavli’s inspired philanthropy. We prize his dedication to work that has fostered a passion for knowledge in generations of people, and promises to do so for generations to come.

His philanthropy demonstrates a deep commitment to his Jewish heritage. Following his years as the U.S. Ambassador to Austria, he established the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation in Central and Eastern Europe, which reaches more than 3,000 young people each year with its message of education, empowerment, and engagement. Among other activities, the foundation provides core support for some thirty schools and kindergartens, and facilitates preservation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau site. As president of the World Jewish Congress, he travels the globe on behalf of Jewish communities from South America to Southeast Asia. He has been president of the Jewish National Fund since 1999, and has served as chairman of several key organizations serving the Jewish people, among them the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the International Public Committee of the World Jewish Restitution Organization. He also serve on the boards of other organizations too numerous to cite.

Jo Carole Lauder, too, is an outstanding supporter of the arts. She works tirelessly as chairman of the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies, which works directly with the Department of State to enhance the image of the United States abroad through American art in our embassies. Her degree in fine arts has been continuously called upon in her many significant roles, including leadership of the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art as president and now president emerita. Her enduring commitment to MoMA includes service on its Contemporary Arts Council, as well as fundraising and other important committees, and she serves on the boards of other leading art institutions here and abroad. She has worked on several documentaries about significant people and places in the American arts. In addition, she devotes her time to Mount Sinai Medical Center, fundraising and serving on the board of trustees. She and her husband are major contributors to the Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder Newborn Intensive Care Unit and the Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder Center for Maternity Care.

Jo Carole and Ronald Lauder, have no doubt discovered, as Andrew Carnegie did, that “the happiness of giving happiness is far sweeter than the pleasure direct.” For discovering so many ways to give happiness to people from their city and around the world, we gratefully commend you both.

As a connoisseur of contemporary art, Leonard Lauder is Chairman Emeritus and a major benefactor of the Whitney Museum of American Art, donating millions in important works of art as well as monetary support and acting as an avid fundraiser. He is also a leader outside the art world: the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, a generous donor to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a trustee of the Aspen Institute, and a member of the President’s Council of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital. Together with Evelyn he gave $50 million to establish the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, which offers advanced outpatient services for cancer diagnosis and breast cancer detection and treatment.

Evelyn Lauder, is a marvel. Not only is she senior corporate vice president of The Estée Lauder Companies, she is also a dedicated philanthropist, especially in the fight against breast cancer. She is the founding chairman of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which has raised more than $330 million and supports researchers across the United States and around the world. She famously helped invent the pink ribbon, now an iconic symbol of breast health, and oversaw the distribution of close to 115 million pink ribbons worldwide. To focus global attention on breast cancer prevention, she also spearheaded the Global Landmarks Illumination Initiative. Now, during the month of October, pink lights shine on dozens of buildings and historic landmarks, from the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower to the Empire State Building. Many women around the world are alive and healthy today because of her unwavering commitment to this fight.

A century ago, Andrew Carnegie expressed no doubt about what mattered in life, and his words hold true today: “A man’s first duty is to make a competence and be independent,” he said. “But his whole duty does not end here…. It is his duty to contribute to the general good of the community in which he lives.” Evelyn and Leonard Lauder, for countless contributions to our community and the world, we offer our sincere admiration and thanks.

Perhaps Stanley Druckenmiller’s Pittsburgh roots led him to be inspired by Andrew Carnegie. Like him, Druckenmiller is known for being fiercely competitive in business (and golf), setting the highest possible standards and pulling out all the stops to succeed. He resembles Carnegie in achieving success at a young age, in his willingness to take significant risks to reap extraordinary returns, and, happily, in his eagerness to use the fruits of his success to make a difference in people’s lives. After many years of generous support to various causes, Druckenmiller went even further, donating an additional $705 million to his family foundation. These funds have already begun to flow out to worthy institutions. One early beneficiary was the Harlem Children’s Zone, an outstanding organization he helped build. He chairs the board of this community-based nonprofit, which serves approximately 17,000 children, combating poverty through education, health care, and job training.

Fiona Druckenmiller, has also had a stellar financial career, and devotes great time and effort to the family’s philanthropy. A trustee of New York University’s Langone Medical Center and a constant advocate for its work, she joined her husband in giving $100 million to launch its Neuroscience Institute, because, as she noted, “Breakthroughs in neuroscience and stem cell research will yield huge benefits in both quality and length of life…. The brain is one of the last great frontiers in medicine, and advances in related research could help both the individual and society function at a higher level.” An ordained interfaith reverend, she is also a member of the leadership council of the New York Stem Cell Foundation and has served on the board of many organizations devoted to education, the arts, human rights, and medical research.

We wholeheartedly applaud Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller because of the sacrifices they have made, the care and concern they lavish on the causes they espouse, and the example they set by giving of their wealth in the same adventurous spirit with which they earned it.

The mission of the foundation has evolved to meet an ever-changing inventory of local and national needs. But what has never changed is the family’s generosity, manifested in more than $1.2 billion provided through some 4,700 grants that have touched the lives of tens of thousands of Americans. In 1998, knowing that the foundation was not intended to extend into perpetuity, with great foresight the family undertook a new philanthropic venture, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. They dedicated the center to improving nutrition and helping to feed the hungry, to preserving and enhancing the environment, and to making their city the world center for plant science. The foundation’s final endowment grant of $70 million was given to the Plant Science Center to help fulfill that promise.

Dr. William Danforth, is recognized as an esteemed physician and exceptional professor of medicine and as the chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, an institution he guided to national stature and to which he remains committed today. John Danforth, is a dedicated public servant, who for eighteen years was a preeminent senator from the state of Missouri. A gifted statesman, he was appointed special envoy to Sudan and later represented the United States as Ambassador to the United Nations, where he focused on ending the twenty-year civil war in Sudan. Dr. William Danforth and Senator John Danforth, are acknowledged for their individual accomplishments as well as the family’s longstanding and exemplary work in philanthropy.

The Crown family’s generosity has extended to the arts, civic affairs, education, environmental projects, health, human services, and Jewish causes. From numerous basic research programs at Israeli institutions to the public school system in Chicago, their concern for others extends to more than 600 institutions annually. While their outreach is broad, their efforts consistently focus on building opportunities for others and addressing the needs of individuals at risk.

Through the decades, the family’s legacy of commitment to the care of others has been passed on to their children and grandchildren. Today even the great-grandchildren of Arie and Ida Crown are involved in helping to ensure continuation of the work all four generations have embraced as a core value of the family. We greatly esteem the social contract of engagement, trust, and participation by which they address the need for social change. On behalf of the many individuals and organizations that benefit from
their unflagging generosity, we honor the kindness and the steadfast commitment of the Crown family.

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.

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.

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.