Drukiers' $5 million gift endows AAP deanship

A commitment to establish a $5 million endowment for the deanship of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning has been made by Cornell trustee Ira Drukier '66, M.Eng. '67, and his wife, Gale. The endowment will be built over the next five years.

Dean Mohsen Mostafavi will be the named the first Gale and Ira Drukier Dean. He is leaving Cornell at the end of the fall 2007 semester for a position at Harvard University as dean of the Graduate School of Design.

"I am so grateful for Gale and Ira's endowment of my deanship," said Mostafavi. "This is a great endorsement for AAP. I feel incredibly honored by their friendship and support."

The Drukiers have endowed several funds at the university. They were honored as foremost benefactors of Cornell in May and were presented with an Ezra Cornell statue by President David Skorton. They have supported the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, the School of Hotel Administration, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and Weill Cornell Medical College, in addition to AAP.

They also have been avid volunteers. As well as serving as a member of the Cornell Board of Trustees, Ira Drukier is chair of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Advisory Council and is a member of the Dean's Council at Weill Cornell Medical College. Gale Drukier also serves on the museum's advisory council and is a former chair of its program committee.

Ira Drukier is co-owner of BD Hotels LLC, developer of New York City hotel properties including the Mercer, Hotel Elysee and the Maritime, as well as the TownHouse in Miami. Gale Drukier has been a professor at Trenton State College and has managed the Greystone Hotel, a BD Hotels property on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

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