Robert A. Belfer

Robert A. Belfer
Born
Robert Alexander Belfer

1935 (age 90–91)
EducationColumbia University (BA)
Harvard University (JD)
Children3
FatherArthur Belfer

Robert Alexander Belfer (born 1935)[1] is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the namesake of Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.

Early life and education

Belfer is the son of American oil industry executive and multimillionaire Arthur Belfer, founder of the Belco Petroleum Corporation, which became a Fortune 500 company.[2] Robert Belfer was born in Kraków, Poland in 1935 and graduated from Columbia College in 1955 and Harvard Law School in 1958.[3]

Career

After completing law school, Belfer joined the Belco Petroleum Corp. He was elected president in 1960 and was named its chairman in 1985. The company subsequently merged into the Omaha, Nebraska-based InterNorth, Inc., a predecessor to Enron.[4][5][6] Belfer was on the Enron board of directors and not involved in the operations of the company.[6][7] Belfer resigned from the board in June 2002.[8] He was estimated to have held more than 16 million shares in the company which earned him a spot on the Forbes 400.[6][9][10]

Belfer had diversified into New York City real estate and co-founded a second energy company, Belco Oil & Gas Corp., with his son in 1992.[5][6] The company went public in 1996 through Goldman Sachs, raising more than $100 million.[5] It was acquired by a Denver-based oil company in 2001.[11]

Philanthropy

In addition to his business ventures, Belfer is well known for his philanthropic endeavors. He is a major donor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he founded the Robert and Renée Belfer Court for early Greek and prehistoric art in 1996.[12] For decades, he has given to John F. Kennedy School of Government, which named Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs after him in 1997.[13] He also donated to Weizmann Institute of Science as well as the Israel Museum.[14][15]

His philanthropic activities have focused on medical institutions. He donated to Yeshiva University, whose tallest building, Belfer Hall, was named after his family, and served as the chair of the board of overseers of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where the Belfer family had established the Belfer Institute for Advanced Biomedical Studies.[16][17] He also served on the board of Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, to which he donated $250 million over the years.[18] The school's $100 million Belfer Research Building, dedicated in 2014, is named after him.[6][19] Belfer sat on the board of directors of Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and donated $35 million to found the Robert A. and Renée E. Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science.[20]

He also was the founding donor for the Neurodegeneration Consortium, a multi-institutional collaboration to find treatments for Alzheimer's disease, which is based out of MD Anderson Cancer Center.[21] Belfer has also supported the Aging Brain Initiative, an interdisciplinary research effort within the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT.[22]

Belfer also endowed a professorship at Columbia University, the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Relations, which is held by the political scientist Jack Snyder.[23] He has supported the ADL Center for Technology and Society and its launch of the Belfer Fellows program, which brings awareness to online hate speech and harassment and works to promote equitable online spaces.[24]

Personal life

He is married to Renée E Belfer. The couple has three children, Shelly, Laurence and Elizabeth, and five grandchildren.[25]

References

  1. ↑ "Oral history interview with Robert A. Belfer - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  2. ↑ "The Forbes 400 : Walton Tops List of Richest Americans". Los Angeles Times. October 15, 1985. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Robert Belfer". Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. March 14, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  4. ↑ Bradley, Robert L. (2018). Enron ascending the forgotten years, 1984-1996. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-1-118-54957-5. OCLC 1153052489.
  5. 1 2 3 Eaton, Leslie; Fabrikant, Geraldine (December 5, 2001). "ENRON'S COLLAPSE: THE LOSERS; With a Billion in Enron's Stock, Rich Wallet Is Suddenly Lighter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Durgy, Edwin. "Weill Cornell Medical College Unveils $100 Million Mystery Donor". Forbes. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Carrie (May 7, 2002). "A Director's Change of Fortune". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  8. ↑ Kathryn, Kranhold (June 7, 2002). "Last Four Holdover Members Resign From Enron's Board". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  9. ↑ Journal, Mitchell Pacelle and Cassell Bryan-LowStaff Reporters of The Wall Street (December 5, 2001). "Belfer Family Is Big Loser In Collapse of Enron Stock". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  10. ↑ Greenberg, Duncan. "Riches-To-Rags Billionaires". Forbes. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Denver's Westport Resources buying Belco Oil & Gas for $922 million". www.ogj.com. June 11, 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Greek and Roman Art". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Kennedy School's Belfer Center Receives $15 Million | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  14. ↑ ULA ILNYTZKY (February 21, 2015). "N.Y. antiquities collection donated to Israel Museum". Post and Courier. Associated Press. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Supporters | Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute". centers.weizmann.ac.il. July 12, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Robert A. Belfer, Founder of Belco Oil & Gas Corp., Elected Chairperson of Albert Einstein College of Medicine's Board of Overseers". Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Belfer Hall, New York City | 133505 | EMPORIS". Emporis. Archived from the original on June 18, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Robert and Renee Belfer: Donor Grants". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Weill Cornell Opens Its Transformative Belfer Research Building, Empowering Scientists to Speed Discoveries to Patients". WCM Newsroom. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  20. ↑ admin. "Home". Belfer Center. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Belfer gift creates consortium targeting neurodegenerative diseases". mdanderson.org. October 29, 2012.
  22. ↑ Elizabeth Chadis (May 2, 2018). "Belfers support MIT's Aging Brain Research". MIT School of Science.
  23. ↑ "Jack Snyder - Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Relations". Columbia SIPA. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Belfer Fellows Research". ADL.
  25. ↑ "Palm Beach Event Chair Bio for Robert A. Belfer - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | Boston, MA". www.dana-farber.org. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
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