Trustee Corner

NYU Medical Center is governed by two boards of trustees: the NYU School of Medicine Foundation Board and the NYU Hospitals Center Board. Together, they play a critical role in charting the course of NYU Medical Center, ensuring the well-being of the institution through philanthropy, participation on board committees, and recruitment of new board members. Each issue of News & Views will introduce several trustees to the Medical Center community.

Sylvia K. Hassenfeld	Bernard L. Schwartz

Sylvia K. Hassenfeld
Sylvia K. Hassenfeld, president of the Hassenfeld Foundation, has been a trustee and benefactor of NYU Medical Center for more than two decades. A champion of children’s health, she was instrumental in the establishment of the Stephen D. Hassenfeld Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, named in memory of her son. Mrs. Hassenfeld’s dedication to other Medical Center initiatives reflects the breadth of her compassion. She has made gifts to KiDS of NYU, the Cochlear Implant Research Program, and the School of Medicine’s Program for Survivors of Torture.
Sylvia Hassenfeld has been recognized by many educational, cultural, and civic organizations that protect human rights and religious freedom and influence social policy. She was the first woman elected president of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, an international relief organization.

Mrs. Hassenfeld’s granddaughter, Susan Block-Casdin, is involved with NYU Medical Center and is founder and co-chair of the Hassenfeld Committee, a group of young professionals representing a variety of corporate, cultural, and philanthropic interests. Ms. Block-Casdin founded the committee in 1998 to help raise money for psychosocial and emotional support programs that are critical to the successful treatment of children and their families at the Hassenfeld Center. Mrs. Hassenfeld, who resides in New York City, has two children and three grandchildren.

Bernard L. Schwartz
Bernard L. Schwartz, chairman and CEO of Loral Space & Communications Ltd., one of the world’s largest satellite manufacturing and services companies, has served as a trustee of NYU Medical Center for nearly 20 years. Since joining the Board of Trustees in 1985, he has been a loyal and ardent advocate of the Medical Center, both in his role as a trustee of the institution and through his generous philanthropy. Throughout the years, Mr. Schwartz and his wife, Irene, have made significant contributions to the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, research programs in urology and dermatology, as well as programs in humanistic medicine, the basic sciences, and most recently, imaging.

Bernard Schwartz’s participation in the cultural, educational, and civic life of New York City and the nation has earned him significant recognition for his counsel on issues such as economic growth, industrial policy, technology, and national security. At a number of institutions he has established programs to promote constructive capitalism as the engine for economic progress. At New School University, he created the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, endowed a chair for the study of economics and policy, and is a member of the Board of Trustees. At the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, he endowed a chair in political economy and established the Forum on Constructive Capitalism.

Mr. Schwartz, who graduated from City College of New York with a B.S. degree in finance, holds an honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the college. He and his wife have two daughters, three granddaughters, and one grandson.