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Over the past 27 years, some 500 Juilliard students have benefited from the generosity of former trustee Jerome L. Greene. Now, courtesy of the late philanthropist’s foundation, even more will be able to do so. In November, President Joseph W. Polisi announced that the Jerome L. Greene Foundation has pledged to give Juilliard $7 million, bringing its scholarship contributions to $25.5 million. The gift supports the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship fund for students in music, dance, and drama, which was established in 1985 and is one of the largest single scholarship programs at Juilliard. While the bulk of the money will go toward boosting the endowment, a portion will be set aside to provide immediate scholarship support for students in all three divisions who qualify on the basis of merit and/or need.
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The foundation honors the memory of Greene, a lawyer and real estate investor who died in 1999. A Juilliard trustee from 1985 until his death, he was instrumental in the creation of the Barnard-Columbia-Juilliard Exchange, and there has been an annual Jerome L. Greene Concert of Baroque music at Juilliard since 2003. (After he died, Greene’s wife, Dawn, led the philanthropic programs of the foundation; she died in 2010.)
“He really believed in the School and the education it offered, and he had great faith in how it was run,” Christina McInerney, Greene’s stepdaughter and the president and C.E.O. of the foundation, told The Journal in a telephone interview. “We have to cultivate the arts, and through this gift, we’re helping to make it possible for these talented young people to give back to all of us.”
When the gift is completed in 2017, McInerney added, it will provide 15 full-tuition scholarships annually. “This grant will build on Jerry’s outstanding legacy of support for Juilliard students,” Polisi said. “It will also serve as an important step in our long-range plan to meet the financial needs of young artists at Juilliard.”
