2011 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy Announced

10th Anniversary of Award Recognizes Individuals, Families with Exceptional and Sustained Records of Giving

NEW YORK, Oct. 19, 2011  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, a sister organization of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, congratulates the winners of the 2011 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.

The recipients of the 2011 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, which recognizes philanthropists who, like Andrew Carnegie, believe in dedicating their private wealth to the public good, were announced on October 14 by Carnegie Corporation of New York.  They are: the Crown Family; the Danforth Family; Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller; Li Ka-shing; Fred Kavli; the Lauder Family: Evelyn and Leonard Lauder, Jo Carole and Ronald Lauder; Pamela and Pierre Omidyar; the Pew Family; and the Pritzker Family.  

The Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, now in its 10th year, is awarded every two years to individuals and families in recognition of their exceptional and sustained records of philanthropic giving as well as the important and lasting impact their philanthropy has had on a field, nation, or on the international community.

The 2011 winners will receive the medal at an invitation-only ceremony at the New York Public Library on October 20, 2011. The ceremony will be hosted by Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent, PBS NewsHour. The philanthropic activities of this year's Carnegie Medalists span the globe and include pioneering support in education, culture, art, international peace, justice, science, citizenship, research, healthcare, technology, and the environment.

The Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, the most celebrated award in philanthropy, was established in 2001 to mark the centennial of Andrew Carnegie's retirement from business and the beginning, in earnest, of his efforts to distribute his fortune in a manner that would, in his words, "do real and permanent good in this world."

Medal winners are selected by an international selection committee comprising representatives selected from seven major Carnegie institutions.  The Medal Selection Committee draws on confidential nominations submitted by a worldwide network of the 23 institutions established by Andrew Carnegie.  This year's selection committee includes Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York, who chairs the committee;  William Thomson CBE, great grandson of Andrew Carnegie and Honorary Chair of the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, who serves as Honorary Chair of the Medal Selection Committee; Andrew Miller, Secretary of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland; Jessica Matthews, President of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Richard A. Meserve, President of the Carnegie Institution of Science; Joel H. Rosenthal, President of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs; and Steven van Hoogstraten, General Director of the Carnegie Foundation (Peace Palace).

"We are honored to bestow the 2011 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy on truly extraordinary individuals and families who have demonstrated an exemplary, longstanding commitment to philanthropy," said Mr. Gregorian.  "This year's medalists were selected because their vision of philanthropy reflects the ideals of Andrew Carnegie, who asserted that the rich are "trustees" of their wealth and are under a moral obligation to reinvest it in society in ways that promote the progress of society."

Past recipients of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy are: 2009 – Mayor Michael Bloomberg, The Koc Family, Gordon and Betty Moore, and Sanford and Joan Weill; 2007 – Eli Broad, the Heinz Family, the Mellon Family, and the Tata Family; 2005 – His Highness the Aga Khan, the Cadbury Family, Tom Farmer, Agnes Gund, the Hewlett Family, and the Packard Family; 2003 – Kazuo Inamori and the Sainsbury Family; and 2001 – Walter and Leonore Annenberg, Brooke Astor, Irene Diamond, the Gates Family, the Rockefeller Family, George Soros, and Ted Turner.

2011 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy Recipients

The Crown Family
The Crown family began making contributions to those in need over 75 years ago, at a time when they had very little. Today, the family's philanthropy covers local, national and international Jewish needs, Israel, health and human services, Chicago civic organizations, education, and the environment.

The Danforth Family
From 1927 until its closing in 2011, the Danforth Foundation had several focus areas, including advancing education throughout the United States and working to insure the long-term vitality of the St. Louis region through various capital and institutional improvements. William H. Danforth, M.D., Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University, was instrumental in establishing the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, developed to improve the human condition through plant science, and John C. Danforth, three-term U.S. Senator from Missouri, who served as Special Envoy for Peace in Sudan, where he focused on ending the country's 20-year civil war, and also served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.  

Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller
Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller have funded and run the Druckenmiller Foundation, which primarily supports medical research, education, and the arts. Stanley is Chairman of the Board of the Harlem Children's Zone, and is a Board member of the Children's Scholarship Fund, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and the Environmental Defense Fund; Fiona is a Trustee of Columbia University, the NYU Langone Medical Center, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, and a board member for The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc.

Fred Kavli
Fred Kavli, a Norwegian-born U.S. citizen, is a physicist, entrepreneur, business leader, innovator, and philanthropist. Founder of the Kavlico Corporation in Southern California, which became one of the world's largest suppliers of sensors for aeronautic, automotive and industrial applications, Kavli divested his interest in the corporation in 2000 and established The Kavli Foundation, which is dedicated to the goals of advancing science for the benefit of humanity and promoting increased public understanding and support for scientists and their work.

The Lauder Family
Evelyn and Leonard Lauder
Evelyn and Leonard Lauder are leaders in the cultural and charitable life of New York City and beyond, and are the driving forces behind the philanthropic efforts of The Estee Lauder Companies. The Lauders' renowned generosity has benefited many organizations, including ones devoted to health, education, the environment, women's causes, and the arts. Evelyn Lauder is Founder and Chairman of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® and helped to establish the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering; and Leonard Lauder is Chairman Emeritus of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, and a charter trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and Co-Founder of its Joseph H. Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies.

Jo Carole and Ronald Lauder
Ronald and Jo Carole Lauder have shared a lifetime commitment in their philanthropic support of the arts, civic and national causes that stretch from museums to medical research. While Mr. Lauder has focused much of his attention on the Jewish world, where he currently serves as President of the World Jewish Congress, he is also the founder and president of the Neue Gallerie, one of New York's outstanding museums, as well as the former Chairman, and he is now Chairman Emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art. Jo Carole shares her husband's passion and has served on numerous committees at MOMA and other museums, and is now the Chairman of FAPE – which works with the State Department to bring American Art to U.S. embassies around the world.

Li Ka-shing
Li Ka-shing, a self-educated entrepreneur who later became the largest manufacturer of plastics in Hong Kong and now chairman of multi-national conglomerate Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa Limited, established the Li Ka Shing Foundation in 1980.  To date, the Foundation has granted over US$1.6 billion to charitable causes throughout the world and remains one of the most well endowed philanthropies with over US$8.3 billion in assets.

Pamela and Pierre Omidyar
eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam have committed more than $1 billion to causes ranging from entrepreneurship to human rights to chronic illness in children. Through the organizations they created – Omidyar Network, Humanity United, HopeLab, and Ulupono Initiative – the Omidyars aim to create lasting social change by providing people around the world with opportunities to improve their lives.

The Pew Family
The sons and daughters of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew and his wife Mary Anderson Pew honored their parents more than six decades ago by creating The Pew Charitable Trusts, which is committed to serving the public interest through the power of knowledge.  Active around the globe, the institution, which looks to improve policy, stimulate civic life and inform the public, works with diverse partners, including donors, public and private organizations and concerned citizens who share a dedication to research-driven problem-solving and goal-oriented investment to meet some of society's greatest challenges.

The Pritzker Family
Philanthropy has been at the core of the Pritzker family culture for four generations. The Pritzkers created and sponsored the international Pritzker Architecture Prize and the Pritzker Neuropsychiatric Consortium, with their philanthropic activities in Chicago ranging in areas from health to education and the arts.

About Andrew Carnegie
Born in 1835, Andrew Carnegie became a self-made millionaire. After selling his steel empire at the beginning of the 20th century, he devoted his life to philanthropic work, giving away the bulk of his great fortune. Today, he is widely viewed as the founding father of modern-day, strategic philanthropy.  

Carnegie believed that the man who dies rich dies disgraced.  He believed that the wealthy were merely stewards of their money—morally required to use it for the good of society.  By the time of his death in 1919, Carnegie had been true to his convictions: he had invested some $350 million—nearly all of his fortune—to advance education, science, culture, international peace, and to recognize the heroism of outstanding individuals. More than a century later, 23 not for profit organizations, created by Carnegie's philanthropy and carrying his name continue his mission the globe over. Andrew Carnegie left a legacy of good will and giving—a legacy evident, in part, in the subsequent generations of philanthropists who, like the 2011 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy recipients, have followed in his path.

For more information about the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, visit: www.carnegiemedals.org; follow on Twitter @carnegiecorp, or search #carnegiemedal or #cmop2011 to follow updates.

SOURCE Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs