Long Island University Receives $12 Million Gift
The C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University will obtain major improvements
in its facilities as the result of a dramatic $12 million gift to the university,
announced this week, from Edmund T. Pratt, Jr., the former chairman and
CEO of Pfizer Inc, and his wife Jinny.
By far the largest single donation in the university's 72-year history,
it will be used in equal $4 million allotments for construction and renovation
on all three of the University's residential campuses - downtown Brooklyn,
C.W. Post in Brookville and Southampton College.
The gift was announced jointly by Eugene H. Luntey, chairman of the
board of trustees, and David J. Steinberg, president of the university,
at a trustee meeting Tuesday. "This," said Steinberg, "is
a transforming gift of grand proportions that will help make our physical
plant commensurate to the high quality of our extensive and diverse academic
programs. As the eighth largest private university in America, Long Island
University must have the capacity to educate its 26,000 students in 21st
century facilities. We hope this gift will inspire others to help us."
Pratt worked his way through Duke and the Wharton School of Business,
serving both as a trustee and donor. Now, he explained, "We want to
support the mission of Long Island University and the momentum it has developed
in the last decade. We also want to encourage others to join us in building
this great institution."
Said Luntey, a longtime friend of the Pratts who is the retired Chairman,
CEO and President of Brooklyn Union Gas Company: "Access to the American
dream through higher education is at the core of our mission. For generations
to come our students will bless the Pratts for giving them their chance."
Luntey added: "This is a superb boost from people who have a real
understanding of how important this university is for Long Island and the
New York metropolitan area."
Students will see results of the Pratts' philanthropy almost immediately.
The university said it would announce in the next few months the details
of plans for enhanced academic and library facilities, increased recreational
space and other improvements.
The donation is particularly welcome, Steinberg said, because "Mr.
and Mrs. Pratt have been willing to let us use these funds in the ways
we deem best for our students." The university believes the gift is
the largest single gift to a private college or university based on Long
Island.
The Pratts have a long-term interest in Long Island University. Their
son Randolf graduated from the C.W. Post Campus in 1976. They are residents
of Sands Point, and Mrs. Pratt over the years attended many classes at
Post. Mr. Pratt received an honorary degree in 1988 from the university's
Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in
Brooklyn, and was the vice chairman of the annual John P. McGrath Award
benefit in 1990. In 1997, he and his wife donated the Edmund and Jeanette
Pratt Lecture Hall in the health sciences building on the Brooklyn Campus.
Pratt was Chairman of Pfizer for more than 19 years and CEO for more
than 18, during which the company's revenue increased sevenfold and its
research and global reach expanded significantly. He has served as a director
of companies including General Motors, International Paper and the Chase
Manhattan Corporation. He and his wife divide their time between Sands
Point and Boca Grande, Florida.
Long Island University is a doctoral degree-granting institution. In
addition to its residential campuses it encompasses the Arnold & Marie
Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, which educates a quarter
of New York State's pharmacists, the Friends World Program of global education
for social change, and regional campuses in Brentwood, Long Island and
Rockland and Westchester counties.
For more information call the C.W. Post Public
Relations Office at (516) 299-2333 or e-mail cwpostpr@aurora.liunet.edu
or send mail to: Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus, 720 Northern
Blvd., Brookville, New York 11548-1300.
