News from
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Office of Communications
Stanhope Hall, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5264
Telephone 609-258-3601; Fax 609-258-1301Contact: Marilyn Marks (609) 258-5748
May 25, 2000
Financier Gerhard Andlinger Makes $25 Million Gift to Princeton University
Princeton, N.J. -- Princeton University announced today that investment banker Gerhard R. Andlinger, a member of the Class of 1952, has made a $25 million gift to the University for new campus projects. Mr. Andlinger is chairman and founder of Andlinger & Company, Inc., the private investment firm, and his gift moves the Anniversary Campaign for Princeton past the $1 billion mark.
"Gerry Andlinger has had a long and meaningful association with Princeton, starting from his earliest days as an international student, when he shared the friendship of so many of his American classmates," said University President Harold T. Shapiro. "His generous gift is a critical act of leadership, coming in the final days of our major campaign effort to prepare Princeton for the 21st century."
A native of Linz, Austria, Mr. Andlinger first came to the U.S. in 1948 after winning an essay contest for Austrian high school students sponsored by the New York Herald Tribune. Eighteen months later he arrived at Princeton with a scholarship and $8 in cash. After earning an M.B.A. at Harvard and serving in the U.S. Army, he began his business career at the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. An expert in management and turnarounds, he held executive positions at ITT and a number of smaller companies before founding his own leveraged buyout firm in 1977.
"Princeton holds a very special place in my heart," said Mr. Andlinger. "I feel privileged to be able to give back to this great University and to the country that has offered me a welcoming home and a wealth of opportunity."
A long-time supporter of Princeton, Mr. Andlinger established the Gerhard R. Andlinger '52 Professorship of Social Sciences in 1991. He is an active member of the Class of 1952 and also serves on the Advisory Council for the University's Bendheim Center for Finance.
Mr. Andlinger is active in many cultural organizations, including the American Austrian Foundation and the Aspen Music Festival International Advisory Board. He is a major contributor to cancer research (through the National Institutes of Health and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute), to educational institutions, and to the arts in his native Austria. Mr. Andlinger and his wife, Jeanne, live in New York City, Vero Beach, Florida, and Aspen, Colorado. Two of Mr. Andlinger's five children also attended Princeton: Merrick G. Andlinger '80 and Nicole Andlinger-Linn '91.
The five-year Anniversary Campaign for Princeton was launched in 1995 to secure new support for Princeton's programs of teaching, research and campus life. The Campaign, which culminates on June 30, has enabled the University to significantly broaden its financial aid policies, build new academic, residential, athletic and social facilities and launch new interdisciplinary programs in the natural and social sciences, engineering and the humanities.