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The Philanthropy 50: Americans Who Gave the Most in 2008
Gerhard R. Andlinger
Rank: 17
Total amount committed in 2008: $100-million
Location: Vero Beach, Florida
Source of wealth: Finance
Donor's background: Mr. Andlinger founded Andlinger & Company, an international investment and management firm in Tarrytown, N.Y.
Mr. Andlinger, 78, pledged $100-million to Princeton University, in New Jersey, to support research and education on efforts to prevent global warming. The money will be paid over four or five years.
Of the total pledged, $70-million will be used by the School of Engineering and Applied Science to create a center for the study of energy and the environment. The remaining $30-million will go toward engineering research laboratories, the hiring of four faculty members, and an endowment to finance research programs that are too new to qualify for federal support. Some of the money will also support a program that will bring industry experts, policy makers, scientists, engineers, and scholars together to study and work on energy and environmental issues.
Mr. Andlinger was born in Austria and came to the United States in 1948 when he won an essay-writing contest sponsored by The New York Herald Tribune. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics and Arabic from Princeton in 1952 and, later, a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University. He then served in the U.S. Army, where he worked in military intelligence. He was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company before starting his investment firm in 1976.
In 2000 Mr. Andlinger gave Princeton $25-million to establish a center for the humanities, and in 1991 he gave $2-million for a professorship in social sciences.
About These Data
The giving figures listed for each individual are based on donations announced to date by the donors or their beneficiaries. In cases of bequests, most of the figures are estimates because the wills have not been settled. For news of gift announcements in 2009, visit the America's Top Donors database.
If you know about a recent gift of $1-million or more that should be added to this directory, please send a message to gifts@philanthropy.com.