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Friend: TV writer Ross intends to leave almost everything to Jewish charities

By Jacob Berkman · July 18, 2008

I have been trying to get in touch with Mickey Ross, the producer and writer on such iconic television shows as “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons” and “Three’s Company,” who over the past several months has given away some $14 million to UCLA and the City College of New York to build up their Jewish Studies programs.

Unfortunately, I found out Thursday that the 89-year-old Ross would not be able to speak. I spoke with a confidant and legal adviser of the writer-turned-philanthropist who said that Ross is not doing very well and has had several strokes in the recent past.

But, said Ross’ friend, who did not want to be identified, more gifts might be on the way. Ross has no heirs, his wife Irene passed away several years ago, and, his friend said, Ross intends to “leave more than 90 percent of his assets to Jewish charities.” He said that much of the remaining gifts could go to Yiddish projects. The previous two gifts both involved Yiddish components. Part of the $10 million gift to City College included endowing a Yiddish chair, and the $4 million to UCLA was specifically to endow a Yiddish chair.

Ross, who was born Isidore Rovinsky, grew up in a Yiddish-speaking home he has said was permeated by “the essence of Yiddishkeit.”

According to his friend, Ross is still lucent, and is still making his own decisions.

Ross was never particularly religious, but “he loves to speak Yiddish,” said the friend.

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The man who got Sammy Davis to kiss Archie Bunker is leaving his mark on Jewish studies

By Jacob Berkman · July 15, 2008

Michael Ross, the former producer of and writer for iconic American sitcoms “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons” and “Three’s Company,” has given some $14 million to create Jewish studies programs at UCLA and City College of New York in recent months.

Ross – who was born Isidore Rovinsky and grew up in a Yiddish-speaking home that he has said was permeated by “the essence of Yiddishkeit” – gave $4 million to endow a Yiddish chair at UCLA, the university announced last week.

In April, he gave $10 million to the City College of New York for the establishment of the Michael and Irene Ross Center for Jewish Studies and to endow a Yiddish chair there. He graduated from City College in 1939.

I’m trying to get Ross on the phone, but I hear that he is not in the best of health these days… hopefully I’ll have more later.

If you have 10 minutes to kill at work, take some time to watch the clip above to see some of Ross’s genius at work. This clip, from the famous episode “Sammy’s Visit, which he produced, includes among other highlights Louise Jefferson telling Sammy Davis Jr. “Shalom Aleichem” and the performer laying a fat one on Archie Bunker. Could be one of TV’s finest moments.

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Spielberg to give $1 million to Philly Jewish museum

By Jacob Berkman · July 9, 2008

The Associated Press reports that Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation will give $1 million to the National Museum of American Jewish History to build a new building in Philadelphia.

The museum, which is set to open in 2010, has raised $111 million toward its $150 million goal for its capital campaign.

Here’s the press release:

SPIELBERG’S RIGHTEOUS PERSONS FOUNDATION MAKES $1 MILLION GIFT TO NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY

Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation has awarded the National Museum of American Jewish History $1 million for its Capital Campaign. With the gift, the Capital Campaign has raised $111 million toward its goal of $150 million for the new Museum being built on the hallowed ground of Independence Mall. The Museum is constructing a 100,000–square-foot, five-story building, designed by Polshek Partnership Architects of New York.

In the heart of historic Philadelphia, the Museum will join Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, the Liberty Bell and other landmarks at the site of America’s birth. The new building, which will serve as a cornerstone of the modern-day American Jewish community, and a source of national pride, will open in 2010. “We are pleased to be able to join a community of donors in making a grant to the Museum,” said Rachel Levin, the Foundation’s Associate Director. “As a Foundation committed to helping to build a vibrant American Jewish community, we were especially interested in the fact that the Museum tells the particular story of Jewish life in the United States and through that lens, the broader story of America.”

“The Board of Trustees is gratified to have the endorsement and imprimatur of the Righteous Persons Foundation,” said Gwen Goodman, the Museum’s Executive Director/CEO. “The Foundation has recognized that we are creating an institution that will embody the stories, dreams and visions of the entire American Jewish community.” The new National Museum of American Jewish History will be the first and only major museum dedicated to chronicling the American Jewish experience. Through intriguing exhibits, rare artifacts and interactive displays, the Museum will mark the trials and triumphs of American Jews through every phase of the country’s history. It will explore the challenges of identity and assimilation they faced and celebrate the contributions they have made to every facet of American life. And since other immigrant ethnic groups have faced similar challenges, the Museum will ultimately be a place for all Americans to explore, offering an experience that is thought-provoking and informative. Major contributions toward creating the new facility began with a lead gift in 2002 from philanthropist Sidney Kimmel. Subsequent gifts have included significant donations from Ed Snider, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, Dr. Alexander and Lorraine Dell and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

The National Museum of American Jewish History is dedicated to telling the still unfolding story of Jews in America – who embraced freedom with its choices and challenges as they shaped, and were shaped by, our nation. The Museum envisions its new home as a place that welcomes all people, inviting them to discover what they have in common with the Jewish experience in America, and to explore the features that make this history distinctive. The Righteous Persons Foundation is dedicated to supporting efforts that build a diverse and vibrant Jewish community in the United States. Having been deeply moved by the experience of directing the film Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg decided to donate his portion of the film’s profits to help support a flourishing and vibrant Jewish community. He consequently established the Righteous Persons Foundation in the fall of 1994 and continues to designate targeted film profits to the Foundation.

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Some Quakers think naming building for gossip columnist is a quack move

By Jacob Berkman · July 7, 2008

The Fundermentalist salutes The Incredible Intern, Naomi Tarlow, for finding this one: The University of Pennsylvania is taking heat for renaming one of its buildings after the former editor of the New York Post’s Page Six gossip column, Claudia Cohen, according to the New York Times.

The ex-wife of billionaire Ronald Perelman, Cohen was an alum of Penn, where T2I (The Incredible Intern’s abbreviated nickname going forward) is a rising sophomore.

Cohen died last year of ovarian cancer. Even though she and Perelman, who acquired the naming rights of a building in 1995 for a $20 million, divorced in 1994, he requested naming a building in her honor. This has caused some debate among campus observers because such honors have historically gone to presidents, Supreme Court Justices and the like, not gossip columnists.

Some of T2I’s colleagues are irked, as Logan Hall – named for a secretary to university trustee William Penn, James Logan – has been renamed Claudia Cohen Hall.

This is thinking wayyyy down the line, but the “Fundermentalist Cubicle at the University of Phoenix” has a great ring to it if anyone wants to pony up $50 for a plaque in my honor.

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Blavatnik to give $5 million to Tel Aviv U.

By Jacob Berkman · July 7, 2008

The Blavatnik Family Foundation will give Tel Aviv University $5 million to help build the school’s computer science program.

The foundation of Russian-born American industrialist Len Blavatnik will fund an extensive expansion of the school’s interdisciplinary research in computer science, award multiple graduate fellowships and create new positions for gifted young faculty, according to a release from Tel Aviv U.

The University will rename its computer science program The Blavatnik School of Computer Science.

Blavatnik, the CEO of Access Industries, ranked number 45 on the 2007 Forbes 400 list, with an estimated wealth of $7.3 billion.

Here’s the press release.

Blavatnik Family Foundation Donates $5 Million to
Expand Computer Science at Tel Aviv University

Gift Will Promote Cutting-Edge Discovery, Augment Faculty,
and Strengthen University’s International Impact on Industry

Tel Aviv - Tel Aviv University’s computer science graduates, already the most heavily recruited in Israel, just gained an even bigger edge in the global business world.

A $5 million gift awarded on June 4th by The Blavatnik Family Foundation, headed by American industrialist Len Blavatnik, creates a wellspring for expanding the scope of Tel Aviv University’s interdisciplinary research, funds additional positions for gifted young faculty, adds multiple scholarships and fellowships, and fosters a partnership of TAU scholarship with local and international industry.

In recognition, the university’s School of Computer Science will be known as The Blavatnik School of Computer Science.

The Blavatnik Family Foundation has an impressive history of underwriting scholarships to advance science at Tel Aviv University, and to support other educational programs in Israel and globally.  Mr. Blavatnik is the founder and Chairman of Access Industries, a U.S.-based industrial group with investments in three sectors: natural resources and chemicals, media and telecommunications, and real estate.

A Giant Leap For Israeli Scholarship

Tel Aviv University’s computer scientists are already recognized worldwide for their excellence and ingenuity.  They lead R&D teams at multinational corporations, including Google and CheckPoint, and continue to create innovative technology - such as computer-assisted pharmaceutical drug design - with substantial implications for the future.

Tel Aviv University President Zvi Galil, a widely respected theoretical computer scientist and former chair of the university’s Computer Science Department, says “the donation from The Blavatnik Family Foundation not only demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to Israel’s leading center of higher learning, it is an important commitment to reversing ‘brain drain’ in Israeli academia - standing it on its head to create, instead, a ‘brain gain’.”

Prof. Haim J. Wolfson, Dean of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, says the donation is destined to strengthen Israel in many ways.  “Our scientists and graduates are key players in the impressively growing Israeli high-tech based economy,” Prof. Wolfson says.  “Computer scientists at Tel Aviv University are pushing forward the frontiers of every imaginable discipline, including medicine.  While nobody knows exactly where computer science will take us, the generous spirit and support of The Blavatnik Family Foundation will play a large part in shaping the future.”

Investing in “Brainpower”

A portion of the gift will be used to support the immediate recruitment of new faculty members, and will fund approximately 15 doctoral fellowships. The remaining portion of the gift will endow additional graduate fellowships, create opportunities to widen the scope of research, and allow new joint-study tracks in emergent interdisciplinary areas such as quantum computation and bioinformatics.

“This very generous gift will help us maintain our leadership position in research and education,” says Prof. Amos Fiat, head of The Blavatnik School of Computer Science. “The new funding will allow us to double the number of student fellowships, and will create important opportunities for great research.”

American Friends of Tel Aviv University supports Israel’s largest and most comprehensive center of higher learning.  It is ranked among the world’s top 100 universities in science, biomedical studies, and social science, and rated one of the world’s top 200 universities overall. Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research programs, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.

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Bloomberg gives away $60 million through the Carnegie Corporation

By Jacob Berkman · June 13, 2008

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is anonymously giving $60 million in grants to 542 organizations through the Carnegie Corporation, according to a New York Times report.

Though the gifts, which range from $10,000 to $150,000, are technically anonymous, it is an open secret that they are coming from Bloomberg.

Hizzoner, who is in the process of starting a personal foundation, has given some $175 million away through Carnegie since 2002, the Times says, including $30 million last year.

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Newman’s loan: A $120 million gift

By Jacob Berkman · June 13, 2008

If you ask the Fundermentalist, the characters that Paul Newman has played onscreen have had some of movie lore’s greatest nicknames: “Cool Hand” Luke, “Fast” Eddie Felson, Reggie “Reg” Dunlop, “Butch” Cassidy and Henry Gondorff.

But maybe it’s time to bestow a nickname upon the real-life Newman: “Nice Guy” Newman.

According to FoxNews, Newman gave away to charity some $120 million between 2005-2006, when he passed his entire ownership stake in the food purveyor Newman’s Own, to the Newman’s Own Foundation.

Fox reports:

According to Newman’s Own federal tax filing for 2006, the actor personally gave away $8,746,500 to a variety of groups that support children, hurricane relief in the Gulf Coast, education and the arts.

Some of Newman’s recipients are well-known: He gave Rosie O’Donnell’s children’s program $5,000 and even donated $25,000 to his pal Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. But most of them are for the kinds of programs that we never hear about, the kind that simply keep people alive.

The report also talks briefly about Newman’s battle with lung cancer, but assures us that Newman is not giving away his fortune because he believes he is dying.

In other news, according to the same report, Steven Spielberg gave George Lucas a $2,500 Sony OLED mini-TV for his birthday.

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