2020 IAS Einstein Gala
The IAS Einstein Gala honoring Sir James Wolfensohn, originally scheduled for March 12, 2020, in New York City, was held virtually on October 6, 2020. Watch the program in the window below.
Honorary Gala Chairs
Charles Simonyi, Microsoft Corporation & IAS Board Chair
Jim Simons, Simons Foundation & IAS Trustee Emeritus
The IAS Einstein Virtual Gala honored Sir James Wolfensohn, IAS’s longest-serving Board Chair (1986–2007), former President of the World Bank, and former Chairman of Wolfensohn & Company. Sadly Jim passed away on Wednesday, November 25, 2020. During his leadership, Jim led the Institute into the twenty-first century, greatly expanded the institution’s financial resources, affirmed the importance of the arts to science and scholarship, and furthered global outreach and broad recognition of the IAS as one of the world’s leading centers for intellectual inquiry.
At the Gala, Jim Wolfensohn was presented with the IAS Bamberger Medal, the Institute’s highest honor, in recognition of his visionary support of the Institute’s pioneering research. The medal is named in honor of Caroline Bamberger Fuld and Louis Bamberger, the sister-and-brother philanthropists who provided the founding $5 million gift to establish IAS as envisioned by the education reformer Abraham Flexner, the Institute’s founding Director.
Proceeds from the Gala benefit the annual operations of IAS, one of the world's foremost centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. Founded in 1930 with the motto “Truth and Beauty,” the IAS is dedicated to independent study across the sciences and humanities and is devoted to advancing the frontiers of knowledge without concern for immediate application.
From founding IAS Professor Albert Einstein to the foremost thinkers of today, the IAS enables bold, nonconformist, field-leading research that provides long-term utility and new technologies, leading to innovation and enrichment of society in unexpected ways. Each year, the Institute welcomes more than 200 of the world’s most promising researchers and scholars who are selected and mentored by a permanent Faculty, each of whom are preeminent leaders in their fields. Among its present and past Faculty and Members are 35 Nobel Laureates, 42 of the 60 Fields Medalists, and 19 of the 22 Abel Prize Laureates, as well as many MacArthur Fellows and Wolf Prize winners.
An independent institution located in Princeton, N.J., the IAS is entirely supported by charitable contributions and grants. It receives no tuition, licensing, or other fees. By attending the Gala, you join our honoree and other philanthropists in supporting the Institute and making a visionary investment in discovery.
Read about the 2019 Gala.
IAS is grateful to the following early supporters of the 2020 Gala:
With special support from Jim & Marilyn Simons and Charles & Lisa Simonyi
General Relativity
R. Martin Chavez & Benjamin Rothschild (Goldman Sachs Gives)
Neil & Natasha Chriss
Roger Ferguson & Annette Nazareth
John & Laura Overdeck
Sir James & Elaine Wolfensohn
Special Relativity
Ardea Partners
Vincent Della Pietra & Barbara Amonson
The Fribourg Family
The Griffin-Cole Fund
Jonathan Nelson & Maya Stendhal
Nancy Peretsman & Robert Scully
Photoelectric Effect
Michael & Victoria Bershadsky
Afsaneh & Michael Beschloss
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Ashvin B. Chhabra & Daniela Bonafede-Chhabra
Citadel
Leonard & Judy Lauder
Mark Heising & Elizabeth Simons
Nancy & Duncan MacMillan
Sandra Peterson
Daniel & Joanna Rose
Barbara & John Vogelstein
Brownian Motion
Blavatnik Family Foundation
R. Martin Chavez & Benjamin Rothschild
David Li Kwok Po Charitable Foundation
Deborah Lunder & Alan Ezekowitz
M. Klein & Company
Tamara & Kevin MacMillan
Mariner Investment Group, LLC
Math for America
Raging Capital Management, LLC
Shelby White
Bose-Einstein
Kathleen Bratton & Brian Wruble
Rita & Charles Bronfman
Robert & Luisa Fernholz
Fishman Family Fund
Spiro J. Latsis
Larry Leeds
Glen & Cheryl Lewy
David & Cynthia Lippe
Loews Corporation
Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation
Marc Haas Foundation
David Marquardt
Richard & Ronay Menschel
Prof. Klaus Nehring & Dr. Yang-Ro Yoon
Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer & Joe Neubauer
Nancy & Morris Offit
Shirley M. Tilghman
Tom & Mila Tuttle
Stephen & Diane Volk
Lulu & Anthony Wang
Mary & Jeff Zients
Associates
Ken & Debbie Baron
Mark Baumgartner
Victoria Bjorklund
Raffaella Cribiore
Sarah & Landon Jones
Hon. & Mrs. Henry A. Kissinger
Drs. Sarah & Martin L. Leibowitz
Bethany & Robert B. Millard
Sherri Rossoff, RockCreek
Tomasina P. Schiro
Lauren & John Veronis
Zhou Zou
Friends
Albourne Partners
Anonymous
Bruce Boman
Jennifer Chayes & Christian Borgs
Drs. Bobbi & Barry Coller
Michael & Nina Douglas
Carl Feinberg
The Honorable & Mrs. Chuck Hagel
James R. Hamilton, Hamilton & Company
Toru Hashimoto
Rush Holt
HMR Architects
Bob & Lynn Johnston
Jack & Nora Kerr
Jingyi Li
Loeb, Block & Partners, LLP
Andrea Mitchell
Alan Patricof
Carla Volpe Porter & Tim Porter
Gerald Rosenfeld & Judith Zarin
SCA-Quatrain, Brian Hunter
Dr. Ronaldo Schmitz
Harold T. & Vivian Shapiro
Richard & Ann Solomon
Steven Holl Architects
Stevens & Lee
Rachel Gray Studebaker & Joel Studebaker
Peter Svrcek
Zegar Family Fund
Contributors
Robert & Marta Adelson
Dale F. Eickelman
Blaine Paxton Hall
Laurie & Robert Jacobs
Lester & Dinny Morse
Alexandre Sole
John Wermer