Gary Winnick, Largest Donor in C.W. Post History, to Return to Alma Mater March 8 for Dedication of Gary and Karen Winnick House

Brookville, N.Y. - Financier and philanthropist Gary Winnick, a 1969 graduate of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, will return to the Campus Saturday, March 8 to see first-hand the results of his generosity to his alma mater -- donations totaling $11 million.

Winnick and his wife, Karen, will tour the Arnold S. Winnick Student Center, formerly the Quad Café, where his father had made deliveries as part of his restaurant supply business, and the Gary and Karen Winnick House, the Tudor-style mansion that serves as the administrative center and visual centerpiece of the Campus.

Both buildings were transformed by Winnick’s gift through the Winnick Family Foundation. Today, the Winnick Student Center is a spacious, modern cafeteria with dining and meeting rooms used by thousands of students, faculty and staff. Winnick House, an historic 97-year-old building that was the former home of cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and financial wizard E.F. Hutton, was painstakingly restored to its original appearance over the past three years with the Winnicks’ generous donation. Master craftsmen restored the building’s ornamental exterior, refurbished or replaced 340 windows and adapted the building for handicapped accessibility. In addition, a state-of-the-art geothermal climate control system was installed to significantly improve energy efficiency.

Winnick House will be formally dedicated during the Winnicks’ visit and a commemorative plaque will be unveiled. After dinner in the Winnick House Great Hall, the Winnicks will be honored at a special performance of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts.

"C.W. Post has benefited immeasurably from Gary Winnick’s generosity, both in terms of improvements to facilities and scholarships for deserving students," said Long Island University President David J. Steinberg.

The Winnicks are scheduled to meet with students who have benefitted from the scholarship fund endowed as part of his gift. The Winnick Family Foundation Scholarship Endowment has awarded grants to approximately 80 C.W. Post students, including Jacqueline Lozzi of East Meadow, N.Y., a student in the accelerated Master of Public Administration program.

“The scholarship money has made it possible for me to continue going to school full-time while working an unpaid internship in my field,” Lozzi said. “It’s very nice to know that I don’t have to pay back thousands and thousands of dollars worth of loans once I graduate.”

Ashley Ciccotelli of Bayside, N.Y., a senior art education major, also said the Winnick Scholarship had allowed her to focus on her studies free of financial concerns. In a thank-you letter to the Winnick Family Foundation, she said, "The closer I get to graduation and the closer I get to becoming a teacher gives me feelings of excitement of what is to come next. But knowing that I’ll have some leeway from this scholarship lets me relax and enjoy the feeling of being a college graduate!”

From his days as a student at C.W. Post, juggling his studies with part-time jobs at a supermarket, ski shop, country club and a hotel, Gary Winnick rose to become one of the nation's leading philanthropists. He has become associated with many good causes but has always had a particular fondness for C.W. Post, which he came to see as a "second family" after his father died when Gary Winnick was an 18-year-old student.

Gary & Karen Winnick

Gary Winnick is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of the private investment group, Pacific Capital Group, Inc. and of iCRETE, L.L.C. – a global concrete technology company.

Mr. Winnick is an international financier and philanthropist with a global investment career spanning more than three decades. Mr. Winnick maintains a strong commitment to local, national and international civic and communal affairs. His philanthropy spans the art and sciences, culture, education, healthcare and the Jewish community. As Chairman of The Winnick Family Foundation, he funds such initiatives as The Winnick Family Clinical Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, The Winnick International Conference Center, Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem, Birthright Israel, Koreh L.A., the Los Angeles Winnick Children’s Zoo and the Skirball Cultural Center Winnick Hall.

Mr. Winnick serves on number of boards including The Simon Wiesenthal Center and The Museum of Modern Art.

Mr. Winnick and his wife Karen, an author and illustrator of children’s books, have three sons and reside in Los Angeles and New York.