Children’s Entertainment Executive Al Kahn Donates $1.1 Million to His Alma Mater

August 11, 2005 - Alfred R. Kahn, the marketing genius behind Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Cabbage Patch Kids, has donated $1.1 million to his alma mater, the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, to help transform an outdated Campus gymnasium into a high-tech classroom facility.

On Sept. 6, more than 2,000 students will start taking classes in the new building – Patsy and Al Kahn Discovery Center - which features 10 Internet-ready “smart classrooms,” six seminar rooms and two film, editing and screening studios. The building is the college’s original gymnasium, which was sent into retirement in 2002 when the Campus opened the $18.5 million Pratt Recreation Center.

Patsy and Al Kahn Discovery Center will be dedicated at a gala on Saturday, Oct. 22 in honor of C.W. Post’s 50th anniversary. Kahn, along with his wife Patsy, will be honored at the event. Proceeds from the celebration will benefit the Patsy and Al Kahn Discovery Center reconstruction campaign. The total cost of the building’s renovation is $6.5 million.

“Al Kahn’s great success in business is a real source of pride for us here at C.W. Post,” Provost Joseph Shenker said.  “His generosity will help make future success stories possible as we undertake this important upgrade of our academic facilities.”

Kahn, who graduated with a bachelor of science degree in business management in 1984, said C.W. Post had given him a “springboard to opportunity.”

“I want to give other kids the same chance the University gave me,” he said.

Kahn is chairman and CEO of 4Kids Entertainment, Inc., previously known as Leisure Concepts, Inc., which markets highly popular toys, games and children’s television shows, including Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!. Before joining Leisure Concepts, Kahn was executive vice president of marketing at Coleco Industries and was responsible for the hugely successful Cabbage Patch Kids line of toys. Kahn has also held positions as divisional merchandise manager for May Company and buyer for Allied Stores.

Kahn earned his industry’s highest honor in June, when he was inducted into the Murray Altchuler Licensing Industry Hall of Fame. The founder and president of the National Law Enforcement and Firefighters Children’s Foundation, Kahn also serves on the board of directors of the Stephen Gaynor School, Bette Midler’s New York Restoration Project and the Neurofibromatosis Foundation.