About Larry Wien

(This was sent to me recently and I thought this group of current owners might be interested.)

Lawrence A. Wien, 83, Is Dead; Lawyer Gave Millions to Charity

Mr. Wien, a founder and senior partner of the 60-year-old Manhattan law firm known today as

Wien Malkin & Bettex, was a 1925 graduate of Columbia College and received his law degree two

years later from the Columbia Law School.

He was generally recognized as a pioneer in real-estate investment syndications. In 1931 he and

three partners each put up $2,000 to buy a small apartment house in Harlem. From that early

beginning, he went on to organize syndicates that at one time controlled more than $2 billion

worth of real estate, including many New York City landmarks.

Substantial Realty Holdings

His groups held ownership or long-term leases on the Empire State Building, the Equitable

Building, the Graybar Building, the Fisk Bulding, the Garment Capitol Building, the Fifth

Avenue Building and the Lincoln Building, where he had his offices.

His holdings at times also included major hotels like the Plaza, the Taft, the St. Moritz, the

Lexington, the Town House and the Governor Clinton, as well as substantial properties in

Newark, Palm Beach, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Las Vegas.

He was known primarily, however, as a patron of the arts and a major contributor to

philanthropic causes. Over the years he gave millions of dollars to the arts and to civic,

educational and welfare organizations. In October he was again nominated for the National

Medal of Arts by George Weissman, chairman of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Mr. Wien, an impressive figure at 5 feet 10 inches and about 150 pounds, called his philosophy

of giving ''intelligent selfishness.'' He said that by contributing to charitable causes, he could see

the results while alive.

'The Fun of Giving'

In an interview in 1982 he noted that he had already provided a reasonable degree of security for

his family, and ''I decided to have the fun of giving my money away.''

And give it away he did. Among his major contributions was about $8.5 million to Brandeis

University, including money to establish in 1958 an endownment fund at the Waltham, Mass.,

institution for tuition, maintenance and travel assistance to 15 foreign students a year. Since the

inception of the Wien International Scholarship, 639 students have benefited.

The very symbol of the university, a statue of Associate Justice Louis Brandeis of the United

States Supreme Court, was commissioned by Mr. Wien in 1956, eight years after the school was

founded.

In 1959 he created a national scholarship at the Columbia Law School that has provided

financial aid to 424 students in the 11 Federal judicial districts across the country.

In 1969 Mr. Wien added $1.2 million to his contributions to the Lincoln Center to help complete

its capital fund drive. He had served as vice chairman and a trustee of the center for almost 20

years. $20 Million to Columbia His donations to his alma mater, Columbia University, came to

more than $20 million over the years, including $6 million toward replacing the university's

crumbling football stadium at Baker Field. The new arena was named in his honor.

Mr. Wien was also extremely generous with his time, serving as president of the Federation of

Jewish Philanthropies from 1960 to 1963 and working each Wednesday at the agency's

headquarters. He continued to serve as an honorary chairman.

He was a trustee of Columbia University from 1964 to 1970 and participated in the Columbia

College Council and Columbia College Fund. The university honored him in 1981 with its

Alexander Hamilton Medal, the highest honor given to an alumnus.

In October Mr. Wien was honored at Brandeis University, of which he was a trustee from 1957 to

1984, serving as chairman from 1967 to 1971. Gravely ill and confined to a wheelchair, he was

the guest of honor at the 30th anniversary dinner celebrating the Wien International

Scholarship. It was his last appearance at the university, where scores of recipients of the full

scholarship surrounded him in a tearful appreciation.

Civic Roles in New York

He was born in New York City and took on many civic responsibilities in the city he said he

loved. He was an official of the City Fusion Party from 1933 to 1935, working to elect Mayor

Fiorello H. La Guardia.

He was a mayoral appointee of the New York City Council Against Poverty from 1966 to 1970. In

addition most of the property he owned was in the city, and for many years he was a patron of

the New York City Ballet, the New York City Opera, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

and the Institute of International Education.

While he contributed millions of dollars to charities, he also induced others, including major

corporations across the country, to increase their financial support for charitable, civic and

educational institutions.

In 1978 he purchased 100 shares of stock in 400 major corporations and then, as a stockholder,

questioned management about how the companies were meeting their reponsibilities in

supporting charitable causes. He founded the Committee to Increase Corporate Philanthropic

Giving, and in two and a half years contributions by corporations that he got in touch with

increased by about $500 million a year.

Another result of this effort is the Wien Prize in Corporate Social Responsibility at Columbia

University, which is awarded to a corporation that is in the forefront of philanthropy. The prize

also provides annual fellowships, awarded in the name of the selected corporation, to two

students at the Graduate School of Business and to three at the Columbia Law School.

Received Many Awards

Mr. Wien received many awards and honors, including honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from

Brandeis University and Long Island University in 1962, Columbia University in 1974, Fairfield

(Conn.) University in 1984 and St. John's University in 1985. He also received honorary degrees

from Canisius College, Buffalo, in 1970 and the Juilliard School this year.

He found time to serve on the boards of numerous public corporations, including Consolidated

Edison, Borden Inc., Jonathan Logan Inc., Morse Shoe and the United Nations Development

Corporation.