Harold FitzGerald "Gerry" Lenfest (May 29, 1930 – August 5, 2018) was an American lawyer,
media executive
A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a entrepreneur who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media-related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individuals. Those with significant co ...
, and philanthropist. In 2004, he was honoured to be a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
.
Early life and career
Lenfest was born in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
, then later grew up in
Scarsdale, New York
Scarsdale is a town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several village ...
, and
Hunterdon County, New Jersey
Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,Flemington High School, and graduating from
Mercersburg Academy
Mercersburg Academy (formerly Marshall College and Mercersburg College) is an independent selective college-preparatory boarding & day high school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. Founded in 1893, the school enrolls approximat ...
, Lenfest went on to receive his BA from
Washington and Lee University
, mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future"
, established =
, type = Private liberal arts university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.092 billion (2021)
, president = William C. Dudley
, provost = Lena Hill
, city = Lexington ...
in 1953 and his LLB from
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
in 1958. He served in the
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
between college and law school. Lenfest worked at the firm of
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, better known as Davis Polk is a white-shoe, international law firm headquartered in New York City with 980 attorneys worldwide and offices in Washington, D.C., Northern California, London, Paris, Madrid, Hong Kong, Be ...
before becoming, in 1965, associate counsel to
Triangle Publications
Triangle Publications Inc. was an American media group based first in Philadelphia, and later in Radnor, Pennsylvania. It was a privately held corporation, with the majority of its stock owned by Walter Annenberg and his sisters. Its holding ...
, Inc., the media company controlled by
Walter Annenberg
Walter Hubert Annenberg (March 13, 1908 – October 1, 2002) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat. Annenberg owned and operated Triangle Publications, which included ownership of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer' ...
. In 1970, he was named head of the Communications Division at Triangle. He formed Lenfest Communications in 1974 and sold it to
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
in 1999, who then sold it to Comcast in 2000 for $6.7 billion. Lenfest was the chairman of the board of directors and majority shareholder of the TelVue Corporation.
Later life and philanthropy
Lenfest's wife, Marguerite B. Lenfest has also played an active role in the Lenfest Group, and Suburban Cable TV Co., Inc. She serves on the board of several cultural institutions including the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
.
In or around 2002, Lenfest and his wife donated $5.5 million to help build the five-story "Lenfest Pavilion" addition to
Abington Memorial Hospital
Jefferson Abington Hospital is the flagship hospital of Jefferson Health–Abington (part of Jefferson Health), located in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia.
The hospital was formerly kn ...
in
Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Abington Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is adjacent to Philadelphia's northern fringe. The population was 55,310 as of the 2010 census, making it the second most populous township in Montgomery County after Lower ...
Lenfest planned to donate all of his wealth to worthy causes before his death. On March 21, 2007, Lenfest announced a donation of $33 million to be spent solely on faculty compensation at his alma mater,
Washington and Lee University
, mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future"
, established =
, type = Private liberal arts university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.092 billion (2021)
, president = William C. Dudley
, provost = Lena Hill
, city = Lexington ...
, where he served as a trustee, and an unpublished amount to Wilson College, his wife's alma mater. In recent years, Lenfest has given over $100 million to
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where his donations include a $48 million challenge gift toward the endowment of 32 new professorships, $15 million toward construction of a Law School residence hall which bears his name, $15 million to support the programs of the
Earth Institute
{{Infobox organization
, name = The Earth Institute
, image = Ei blue1.gif
, map_size =
, map_alt =
, map_caption =
, map2 =
, type =
, tax_id ...
, $12 million to endow awards for outstanding teaching, and most recently a $30 million pledge to help build an Arts Center venue on the Manhattanville campus.
'Gerry' and Marguerite Lenfest gave the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia $63.6 million in endowment, annual giving, underwriting of faculty chairs and student fellowships, bricks and mortar. Lenfest is Curtis' board chairman. Lenfest Hall, designed by Venturi, Scott-Brown & Associates, opened in summer 2011. The Lenfests created a challenge program to endow faculty chairs. Student tuition at Curtis is free. (Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 5, 2011, p. A1, A10-11.)
Lenfest was elected a trustee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in 1993, and became chairman of the Museum's board in 2001. From 2005 until his death, he was chairman of the Museum of the American Revolution. In 2006, he became chairman of the board of trustees of the Curtis Institute of Music.
Lenfest endowed the Lenfest College Scholars program, a $12,000 per year scholarship awarded to high school juniors from the south central Pennsylvania area. Until 2007, he also endowed the Lenfest College Prep Scholarship, which was given to teenagers from eighth to tenth grade from certain areas of rural Pennsylvania to attend one of four private schools, Mercersburg Academy, The Perkiomen School, Westtown School, or Wyoming Seminary.
Lenfest became friendly with
Keith Leaphart
Keith Leaphart (born February 9, 1975) is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist and physician. Leaphart is the Chair of the Lenfest Foundation, CEO of Replica Creative and founder of Philanthropi, a fintech company.
Early life
Leaphart was b ...
, who cleaned Lenfest's office. The two went on to become businesses associates and Leaphart currently serves as the chair of the Lenfest Foundation.
In 2007, Lenfest donated over 1,000 acres of land in
Newlin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Newlin Township is a township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,285 at the 2010 census.
Newlin Township was the hometown of explorer Josiah Harlan and Lenape healer Hannah Freeman. William Baldwin, the botan ...
SS United States
SS ''United States'' is a retired ocean liner built between 1950 and 1951 for the United States Lines at a cost of (equivalent to $ million in ). The ship is the largest ocean liner constructed entirely in the United States and the fast ...
from Norwegian Cruise Lines and the rest to outfit the ship for its next use.
In June 2012, Lenfest made a $40,000,000 challenge grant to the Museum of the American Revolution to be located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Although Lenfest was not Jewish, he made several significant donations to Jewish causes including $500,000 to the
National Museum of American Jewish History
The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History (The Weitzman) is a Smithsonian-affiliated museum at 101 South Independence Mall East (S. 5th Street) at Market Street in Center City Philadelphia. It was founded in 1976.
History
With ...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
The Philadelphia Foundation
The Philadelphia Foundation is a community foundation that serves the Greater Philadelphia community. The five primary counties served are Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery. It is one of the oldest and largest community fou ...
, a nonprofit organization, so that the two newspapers, a community asset, would stay in Philadelphia. Later, Lenfest donated $40 million in matching funds to the Philadelphia Media Network and agreed to work to get the Lenfest Institute for Journalism to $100 million in endowment funding towards long-term journalism.
January 11, 2016
Lenfest died on August 5, 2018, at the age of 88.