James Stewart Marcus (15 December 1929 – 5 July 2015) was an American philanthropist and investment banker at Goldman Sachs who supported classical music, opera, and the vocal arts in and around New York City. He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the

Metropolitan Opera 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 oper ...

for eight years.

Life and career

Born James Stewart Marcus, he was the grandson of Joseph S. Marcus who founded the

Bank of United States The Bank of United States, founded by Joseph S. Marcus in 1913 at 77 Delancey Street in New York City, was a New York City bank that failed in 1931. The bank run on its Bronx branch is said to have started the collapse of banking during the Grea ...

. Raised in New York City, Marcus graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

with a B.A. in 1951 and earned an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School in 1953. In 1951, he was editor of ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

''. In 1956, he joined the firm of Goldman Sachs and was a general partner there from 1964 to 1982. In 1973, Marcus was named a member of the Board of Directors of the

, and later served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Met from 1986-1993. In 1997, he was elected an honorary director of the Met Board. In 2010, he gave ten million dollars to the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

to establish the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts. He was also a longtime generous supporter of

WQXR-FM WQXR-FM (105.9 FM) is an American non-commercial classical radio station, licensed to Newark, New Jersey and serving the North Jersey and New York City area. It is owned by the nonprofit organization New York Public Radio, which also operates ...

. Marcus was a trustee of numerous organizations, including the American Composers Orchestra, the Animal Medical Center of New York, the Calamus Foundation, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the

Collegiate Chorale MasterVoices (formerly the Collegiate Chorale) is a symphonic choir based in New York City, USA. It was founded in 1941 by Robert Shaw, who was later to found the professional Robert Shaw Chorale. MasterVoices continues to give several performanc ...

, the Guild Hall Center for the Performing Arts,

Lenox Hill Hospital Lenox Hill Hospital (LHH) is a nationally ranked 450-bed non-profit, tertiary, research and academic medical center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, servicing the tri-state area. LHH is one of the region's many unive ...

, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the

Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has g ...

, and

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

. He died in Manhattan in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcus, James S. 1929 births 2015 deaths American investment bankers Philanthropists from New York (state) Goldman Sachs people Harvard Business School alumni The Harvard Crimson people Metropolitan Opera people 20th-century American philanthropists