Iris Cantor is a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, with a primary interest in medicine and the arts. Cited as among the 50 top contributors in the United States, as head of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, her foundation has donated several hundred million dollars to museums, universities and hospitals since 1978.

Early life

Born Iris Bazel (February 14, 1931), the first daughter of Fay and Al Bazel, she grew up in

Crown Heights, Brooklyn Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard/East New Yo ...

, New York City. Her mother was originally from Pennsylvania and her father was a

Jewish Russian :''This List of Jews contains individuals who, in accordance with Wikipedia's verifiability and no original research policies, have been identified as Jews by reliable sources.'' The following is a list of Jews born in the territory of the for ...

immigrant. Her younger sister Enid was born three years later.

Bernie Cantor

Drawn to Manhattan, she worked as a fashion model and stockbroker before eventually being hired by bond brokerage

Cantor Fitzgerald Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. is an American financial services firm that was founded in 1945. It specializes in institutional equity, fixed income sales and trading, and serving the middle market with investment banking services, prime brokerage, an ...

around 1967, as an executive secretary. In 1977, she married the firm's founder and majority owner, Bernard Gerald Cantor. It was her third marriage, and lasted nearly 20 years until his death in 1996. By this time, "Bernie" Cantor had amassed a fortune said to exceed $500 million, receiving $50 million in annual dividends as of 1995. Subsequent to his business success, Mr. Cantor became a well-regarded art collector, and most notably had acquired over 750 sculptures and drawings by

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

, and many American and European masters' paintings.

Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

In 1978, the year after their union, the Cantors founded the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation as a vehicle for their philanthropy. In 1996, after acrimonious litigation with her husband's successor, Mrs. Cantor sold her inherited 55% stake to the 170 limited partners of Cantor Fitzgerald, and the company agreed to additionally fund the foundation. Over the years, the foundation has donated approximately 450 Rodin pieces to museums around the world, with many going to New York's

Metropolitan Museum 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 ...

and

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

. In addition to the artworks, the foundation has financed numerous museum and university expansions: *

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 ...

: the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Exhibition Hall, the B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Galleries and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, with gifts of $11.5 million (as of 1994). *

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

: the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium. *Stanford University: 268 Rodin pieces formed the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, with a $10 million donation in 1994. *

, 114 pieces plus the B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden *

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, the ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

: Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Film Center, plus permanent scholarship fund, and Faye's Cafe, named in honor of her mother. *

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

- The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery Since 1995, she has been a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum and the Brooklyn Museum, as well as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and North Carolina Museum of Art among others. She has made additional donations to medical facilities and foundations: *

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Health System - Cantor established the Iris-Cantor - UCLA Women's Health Center in 1995. She has been involved with the UCLA Foundation since 1989, and has served as a Foundation Governor since 2005. *

NewYork-Presbyterian The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New ...

/ Weill Cornell - donated the funds for eleven birthing rooms, two operating rooms, and a waiting rooms in 1996. She donated $5 million in 2002 to form the Iris Cantor Women's Health Center, and $20 million in 2010, to launch the Iris Cantor Men's Health Center, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Ambulatory Surgery Center, and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Laboratory for Immunological Research in Diabetes. *

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute– ...

- funded a Senior Chair in 2007. *

David Geffen School of Medicine The University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine—known as the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM)—is an accredited medical school located in Los Angeles, California, United States. The school was renamed in 2001 in ...

- donated $8 million to improve the school's women's health curriculum. Cantor has sat on the Board of Trustees of

New York-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...

since 1989. Other board memberships include Exploring the Arts, and the Dean's Committee of the

Awards

Mrs. Cantor has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including a National Medal of Arts awarded by President Clinton in 1995,. For her work promoting appreciation for the French sculptor Auguste Rodin, she was made a

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in France's

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

in 2000, which was upgraded to an Officer on 20 March 2017.

Finances

In 2011, she sold the 34,000 square foot Bel-Air mansion that Bernie had built for her, for a reported $40 million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantor, Iris American art collectors Philanthropists from New York (state) Living people 1931 births American women philanthropists Women art collectors Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur United States National Medal of Arts recipients Philanthropists from California People from Bel Air, Los Angeles People from Crown Heights, Brooklyn Female models from New York (state) American people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century American women