Eugene Michael Lang (March 16, 1919 – April 8, 2017) was an American businessman and

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

who founded REFAC Technology Development Corporation in 1951. REFAC held patents relating to liquid crystal displays, automated teller machines, credit card verification systems, bar code scanners, video cassette recorders, cassette players, camcorders, electronic keyboards, and spreadsheets, and filed thousands of lawsuits against other corporations as part of a strategic operational and technological licensing and exportation process. Lang created the I Have A Dream Foundation in 1981, Project Pericles in 2001, and the Lang Youth Medical Program in 2003. He was also the chairman of the board at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

Life and career

Lang was born in 1919 in New York City, the son of Ida (née Kaslow) and Daniel Lang,

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

immigrants from Russia and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. He attended public schools including

Townsend Harris High School Townsend Harris High School (THHS; often also shortened to Townsend Harris or simply Townsend) is a public high school for the humanities in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located on the campus of Queens College, a public college p ...

. At the age of 15 he was admitted as a scholarship student to

, and received a B.A. in economics in 1938. He then received an M.S. from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and one of ...

in 1940. He studied mechanical engineering at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute from 1940 to 1941. He was married to Theresa (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Volmar) Lang from 1946 until her death in 2008. They had three children: Jane Lang, David Lang and

Stephen Lang Stephen Lang (born July 11, 1952) is an American stage and screen actor. He gained fame for his role as main antagonist Miles Quaritch, Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron's ''Avatar (2009 film), Avatar'' (2009), for which he won the Saturn ...

. He created the I Have A Dream Foundation in 1981, Project Pericles in 2001, and the Lang Youth Medical Program in 2003. He has also made large donations to

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

's undergraduate liberal arts college (now known as

Eugene Lang College Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, commonly referred to as Lang, is the seminar-style, undergraduate, liberal arts college of The New School. It is located on-campus in Greenwich Village in New York City on West 11th Street off Sixth Avenue ( ...

), and the Eugene M. Lang Center for Entrepreneurship at

, which is part of Columbia University. In 1986, Lang received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards. Also that year

Harry Reasoner Harry Reasoner (April 17, 1923 – August 6, 1991) was an American journalist for CBS and American Broadcasting Company, ABC ABC News (United States), News, known for his adroit use of language as a television commentator and as one of the origin ...

interviewed Lang discussing the school program for the news show

60 minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

. In 1996, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

awarded him the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...

. His philanthropies, focused primarily on education, altogether exceed $150,000,000. Due to his philanthropy in education, he held 38 honorary degrees as of December 2012. In 2003 he endowed the Lang Youth Medical Program at NewYork-Presbyterian-Columbia Medical Center. This 6-year program immerses underserved Washington Heights youths in science-based afterschool program.

Death

Lang died at his home in New York City on April 8, 2017, at the age of 98.

References

External links

60 Minutes
clip of Paul Tudor Jones discussing Mr. Lang inspiration. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Eugene 1919 births 2017 deaths Activists from New York (state) American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Philanthropists from New York (state) Businesspeople from Queens, New York Columbia Business School alumni Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Swarthmore College alumni Townsend Harris High School alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists 21st-century American Jews