June 15, 2006 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Arthur Zankel, the New York financier who died in July, left a total of $120-million to several nonprofit institutions, including Skidmore College, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y, which received $42-million, the largest of all of the bequests.
Mr. Zankel committed suicide at age 73 after a decades-long battle with depression.
The other charitable beneficiaries of Mr Zankel’s estate were:
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Carnegie Hall, in New York, received approximately $22-million to pay programming and operating costs for the Judy and Arthur Zankel Hall, a performance and education space that Mr. Zankel and his wife helped renovate with a $10-million donation in 1999. Mr. Zankel served as a Carnegie Hall trustee from 1992 until his death, and Judy Zankel continues to serve on the organization’s board.
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Teachers College at Columbia University, in New York, received $10-million and plans to use the money to create 50 one-year scholarships of $10,000 each for needy graduate students. Mr. Zankel was vice chairman of the college’s Board of Trustees, and the college plans to name its main building for him.
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The UJA-Federation of New York received approximately $8-million for the Arthur Zankel Fund, Mr. Zankel’s donor-advised fund. One third of the earnings from the fund will establish a depression-treatment center at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, in New York, to help people battling depression who can not afford treatment. One third of the earnings from the bequest will pay for 100 people each year to participate in Birthright Israel, a program that organizes trips to Israel for groups of young Jews. The remaining one third of the earnings will go toward charitable causes the federation supports.
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The Society of Illustrators, in New York, received $4-million, which it plans to use for general support and for its Museum of American Illustration. Ms. Zankel is an illustrator, and she and her husband have been involved with the society for many years.
The rest of the charitable bequest, approximately $34-million, will be divided among the Zankel Fund, the family’s foundation, which supports education groups and other charities in New York, and several other nonprofit organizations.
Mr. Zankel was a member of Skidmore’s Board of Trustees for 10 years, and two of his four sons graduated from the college. Skidmore officials knew Mr. Zankel had included the institution in his will, but they did not expect to receive such a large sum.
Mr. Glotzbach said he thinks the bequest offers a clue to Mr. Zankel’s view of the relationship between economics and academe. “He was broadly educated and understood the connection between a liberal-arts education and business,” Mr. Glotzbach said.
Mr. Zankel did not specify in his will how the college should use the money, so Skidmore officials sought ideas from the Zankel family. Together, they decided that $15-million will go toward a 48,000-square-foot music center that will house a rehearsal hall and an academic wing, and will be named for Mr. Zankel, while $13-million will go into the endowment.
Of the remaining funds, $10-million will support scholarships for needy students, and $3.5-million will establish a program in arts management.
