The unfolding scandal surrounding the alleged Ponzi scheme run by Bernard L. Madoff yesterday claimed as a victim one of the largest educational foundations in the country, which has funded groundbreaking brain research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and diabetes research at Harvard Medical School. The Picower Foundation of Palm Beach sent an e-mail to ‘‘colleagues and friends’’ late yesterday saying it was a victim of Madoff’s alleged scheme and that it would soon shut down. With assets of more than a half-billion dollars, it is believed to be the largest charity to have been hit by the unfolding scandal. ‘‘It is with great sadness that I write to inform you that the Picower Foundation has ceased all grant-making, effective immediately, and will close its doors in the coming months,’’ wrote Barbara Picower, president of the foundation. ‘‘The foundation’s endowment was managed by Bernard L. Madoff, who, as you well know, was arrested on Dec. 11 for securities fraud.’’ The Picowers could not be reached for comment last night at their Palm Beach home. Jeffry Picower is a lawyer originally from New York. A portrait of the Picowers hangs in the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT. They gave the center $50 million in 2002, which was, at the time, the largest grant from a single foundation the university had ever received. Madoff had served on the board of a medical research institute in New York that the Picowers had funded. In its 2007 tax return, the Picower Foundation said the market value of its investment portfolio was $952 million. It is unclear from the foundation’s statement whether the foundation lost all its money or just enough to force it to cease operations. ‘‘Either I or one of our program staff will contact grantees to bring closure to active grants,’’ Barbara Picower wrote. The foundation ‘‘deeply regrets that in such a harsh economic climate, we will be unable to support the profoundly important programs and organizations that have helped us promote excellence in education, innovation in medical research, and the protection of human rights.’’ The Picower Foundation also gives MIT $200,000 a year to fund scholarships for graduate students, in the name of Norman B. Leventhal, the famed Boston developer and philanthropist. Leventhal was a director of Picower Foundation until this year. The foundation gave $1.5 million for diabetes and metabolism research to Dr. Jeffrey Flier, dean of Harvard Medical School. Flier said he had a premonition on Monday that the foundation was in trouble. He and other scientists associated with the research were due to go to New York to present their results to one another and Barbara Picower. But on the way to New York, they received an e-mail from Barbara Picower saying she couldn’t attend the meeting. She didn’t give a reason.Continued...
Saturday 20 December 2008
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