Board Service Plays a Key Role for the Cullmans

Lewis B. Cullman, a New York philanthropist, says he’s “not interested in being a passive donor,”

which is one reason he and his wife, Dorothy, sit on many of the boards of the nonprofit groups they support.

In his new book, Can’t Take It With You: The Art of Making and Giving Money, Mr. Cullman writes: “It takes two or three years to really understand how any organization works: to see its weak and strong points, its missing links, how it can leverage its assets, and where the drain holes are that your money will disappear through if you’re not careful. For a lay person, an outsider, there’s no better place to learn all that than from a seat on the board.”

Following are the charities for which Mr. Cullman serves as a trustee: Chess-in-the-Schools, chairman
Metropolitan Museum of Art, chairman of the education committee
Museum of Modern Art, chairman of the education, finance, marketing, and planned-giving committees
Neurosciences Research Foundation, vice chairman
New York Botanical Garden, senior vice chairman

Following are the organizations for which Mrs. Cullman serves as a trustee:

American Academy in Rome
Enterprise Foundation, New York committee
Film Center of Lincoln Center
Human Rights Watch
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Museum of Natural History
New York Public Library