Chase Manhattan Foundation Donates $5 Million To Brandeis University

Business Wire, April 14, 2000

Business Editors

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 2000

The Chase Manhattan Foundation today announced a $5 million gift to Brandeis University, among the largest gifts ever given by the foundation to an educational institution.

The funds will be used to establish The Chase Manhattan Chair in Ethics and to provide scholarships to first-generation Americans and underprivileged students.

Marc Shapiro, Chase Vice Chairman of Finance and Risk Management and Chairman of The Chase Manhattan Foundation, presented the gift to the University at a ceremony on the Brandeis Campus. "The Chase Manhattan Foundation is proud to present this gift, which will promote the importance of ethical behavior while providing educational assistance to a diverse group of students," said Mr. Shapiro. "The ideals of ethical behavior and diversity are central to our values at Chase and it is our hope that this gift will help to reaffirm these important principles," Mr. Shapiro said.

Brandeis President Jehuda Reinharz said, "The Chase Manhattan Foundation is setting an example by dedicating significant funds to opening doors of opportunity for underprivileged students." He added that "endowing a chair in Ethics will allow the University to strengthen this important discipline and will enable Brandeis to build on its reputation established by the International Center on Ethics, Justice and Public Life."

The Chase Manhattan Foundation was established by The Chase Manhattan Bank to provide contributions and other philanthropic and volunteer support to non-profit organizations across the United States and overseas. Chase's philanthropic activities are focused on community development and human services, precollegiate education, and arts and culture. Chase also offers a number of competitive grant programs as well as such specialized programs as the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Chase Active Learning, the Faith-Based Initiative for Community Development, Racial Harmony and Diversity, and Recoverable Grants.

Brandeis University is the youngest private research university in the United States and the only nonsectarian college or university in the nation founded by the American Jewish community. Named for Louis Dembitz Brandeis, the distinguished associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Brandeis was founded in 1948. The University was recently ranked as the number one rising research university by authors Hugh Davis Graham and Nancy Diamond in their book, The Rise of American Research Universities.