Michael E. Gellert was a Trustee and Vice Chairman of the New School, investment banker, and philanthropist. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1931, his family fled to the United States in 1938. Gellert received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1968, he co-founded the venture capital firm Windcrest Partners, and went on to serve as the director of several corporations including SEACOR Holdings, Dalet Technologies, Six Flags Theme Parks and numerous others. He also served as a trustee for Human Rights Watch, the Carnegie Institution for Science, and the New York City Opera. Gellert joined the New School Board of Governors in 1987. The Michael E. Gellert Professorship in Sociology, and the Gellert Faculty Resource Center each bear his name. Gellert died in 2021.

Sources: “Michael E. Gellert (In Memoriam 1931-2021)”. Human Rights Watch. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://www.hrw.org/about/people/michael-e-gellert-memoriam-1931-2021

Goldfarb, Jeffrey C. “Remembering Michael E. Gellert”. Public Seminar. August 23, 2021. Accessed June 11, 2024. https://publicseminar.org/essays/remembering-michael-e-gellert/