G. Lauder Greenway (June 10, 1904 – June 22, 1981) was a prolific patron of the arts in the 20th century, especially the opera where he was the longtime chairman of the

Metropolitan Opera Association The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

. He was also the director of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

which led to his deep involvement in the creation of

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

on whose board he also served. Outside of musical arts, he served as vice-chairman of the

Institute of Fine Arts The Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) of New York University is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art, archaeology and the conservation and technology of works of art. It offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philos ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

from 1946 to 1948, as its acting director from 1948 to 1951 then became chairman of the institute's advisory committee during which he orchestrated the acquisition and conversion of the

James B. Duke House The James B. Duke House is a mansion at 1 East 78th Street, on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The building was designed by Horace Trumbauer, who drew heavily upon the design of in Bo ...

as the institutes headquarters. He was also on the board of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

for several years.

Biography

Lauder Greenway was born in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and other ...

as the second of three sons to James Greenway Sr. and his wife, Harriet Lauder Greenway. As a member of the Lauder Greenway Family, Greenway's maternal grandfather was George Lauder and his great-uncle was

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

which informed and empowered his philanthropic efforts. Greenway would live his entire life, less his years at boarding school and university, at his family's Lauder Greenway Estate in Greenwich.

Education

Greenway was educated at

Choate Choate may refer to: Places Canada * Choate, British Columbia, a locality in the Fraser Canyon of British Columbia, Canada * , a lake in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada United States * Choate Mental Health and Development Center, a ...

and

Taft School The Taft School is a private, coeducational school located in Watertown, Connecticut, United States. It teaches students in 9th through 12th grades and post-graduates. About three-quarters of Taft's roughly 600 students live on the school's ...

in high school, then graduated from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

in 1925 with a bachelor's degree, a master's degree from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

in 1926, and a PhD from Yale in 1930. During his PhD studies (1927–28) and immediately following (1931–32), Greenway was an instructor in English at Yale. In 1958, Mr. Greenway was awarded an honorary doctorate in fine arts from

. He was cited as ''a zealous champion of the classic humanities in this cornucopian age of ingenious mechanics.''

Arts Patron

Metropolitan Opera House At Lincoln Center 2

Metropolitan Opera Company

After becoming a member of the board of the Metropolitan Opera Association in 1942, he went on to serve as vice-chairman. From 1956 to 1970, Greenway served as chairman of the association, which runs the opera company itself. This was a volatile period for the opera as it had begun to outgrow its original home. He served as honorary chairman of the association from 1970 to 1975 and was an honorary director from 1977 till his death in 1981. Avery Fisher Hall photo D Ramey Logan

New York Philharmonic

Greenway was a director of the

from 1948 to 1970.

Lincoln Center

Greenway, as the chairman of the opera and a director of the

, was instrumental in working with John D. Rockefeller III in the establishment, construction, and adoption of

. He was a member of the board of Lincoln Center from 1964 to 1973. James B Duke House 001

NYU Institute of Fine Arts

Long an admirer of the fine arts, Greenway served as vice chairman of the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University from 1946 to 1948, as its acting director from 1948 to 1951, and became chairman of the institute's Advisory Committee from 1951 onward. It was under Greenway's leadership alongside Craig Smyth that the institute was able to acquire and convert the

as its new home in 1958.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Greenway was on the board of directors for the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1932 till 1941. From 1932 to 1940 he acted as assistant secretary, and was elected secretary of the board in 1940 and 1941.

Personal life

Greenway never married and died childless, though was in a long rumored relationship with

Ailsa Mellon Bruce Ailsa Mellon Bruce (June 28, 1901 – August 25, 1969) was a prominent American socialite and philanthropist who established the Avalon Foundation. Early life Ailsa was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 28, 1901. She was the daughter of t ...

after her divorce from David Kirkpatrick Este Bruce. Mrs. Bruce's father was banker

Andrew W. Mellon Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...

, the CEO of

Mellon Bank Mellon Financial Corporation was an investment firm which was once one of the world's largest money management firms. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was in the business of institutional and high-net-worth individual asset management, incl ...

, who was instrumental in converting the Lauder Greenway and Carnegie's family business from the

Carnegie Steel Corporation Carnegie Steel Company was a steel-producing company primarily created by Andrew Carnegie and several close associates to manage businesses at steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. The company was forme ...

to U.S. Steel. In addition to their personal links, Greenway was a longtime trustee of Bruce's

Avalon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City in the United States, simply known as Mellon Foundation, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pit ...

Family

As member of the Lauder Greenway Family, Greenway was an heir to the U.S. Steel fortune through the Lauder side. His mother, Harriet Lauder Greenway, was the daughter of George Lauder and niece of

. The elder men were business partners and built the

Carnegie Steel Company Carnegie Steel Company was a steel-producing company primarily created by Andrew Carnegie and several close associates to manage businesses at steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. The company was form ...

together. His father, James Greenway Sr. and mother Harriet provided the endowment to create the

Yale School of Public Health The Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) was founded in 1915 by Charles-Edward Amory Winslow and is one of the oldest public health masters programs in the United States. It is consistently rated among the best schools of public health in the co ...

. His uncle,

John Campbell Greenway John Campbell Greenway (July 6, 1872 – January 19, 1926) was an American businessman and senior officer of the U.S. Army Reserve who served with Colonel Theodore Roosevelt in the Spanish–American War and commanded infantry in World War I. H ...

, was a

Rough Rider The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and diso ...

with Teddy Roosevelt and a highly decorated

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

general while his aunt,

Isabella Greenway Isabella Dinsmore Greenway (née Selmes; born March 22, 1886 – December 18, 1953) was an American politician who was the first congresswoman in Arizona history, and as the founder of the Arizona Inn of Tucson. During her life she was also not ...

, was one of the first female representatives in the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

from Arizona and a close friend of

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

and

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. Greenways brothers were all

graduates like Lauder; his younger brother, Gilbert C. Greenway, was a pioneering pilot who later served in the

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

administration as the deputy assistant secretary of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

after serving as an officer in the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

. Upon retiring he was the chairman of the Lyford Cay Club in

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

. His elder brother, James Cowan Greenway, was a prominent figure in ornithology who led Harvard's

Museum of Comparative Zoology A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

. Lauder's first cousin, Polly Lauder Tunney, was a longtime collaborator of his at the

and the wife of World Heavyweight boxing champion

Gene Tunney James Joseph Tunney (May 25, 1897 – November 7, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1915 to 1928. He held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928, and the American light heavyweight title twice between 1922 and 1 ...

References

External links

* https://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/fineart/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenway, G. Lauder 1904 births 1981 deaths Lauder Greenway Family People from Greenwich, Connecticut Yale University alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge New York University people American patrons of the arts Metropolitan Opera people People associated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York Philharmonic 20th-century American philanthropists