Who We Are
The Fifty Vanderbilt Foundation was started in 2015 as part of the Yale Club of New York City’s centennial celebration of its historic and architecturally important clubhouse. In addition, the foundation raises money for scholarships for students, stewards the employee emergency fund, and works to further the legacy of James Gamble Rogers.
The Foundation was awarded 501(C) (3) nonprofit status in 2016, with the purpose of preserving and maintaining the exterior of the clubhouse.
Board of Trustees
Paul D. Sarkozi ’87, President
Yoshiko Inoue ’00, Vice President
Kathy Edersheim ’87, Interim Treasurer
Hunter S. Reisner ’82, Vice Treasurer
Mark Elliott ’90 JD, Secretary
Amy Butte ’90
Joanna Hendon ’91 JD
Michael Hennessy ’89
Charlotte Hitchcock MPH ’91
Vince McCarthy ’86
Julia Pimsleur ’90
Kara Unterberg ’87
James Gamble Rogers (1867-1947)
Fifty Vanderbilt has a distinction few clubhouses can claim: it was the first major commission of an architect who would go on to design most of Yale’s campus. James Gamble Rogers, Class of 1889, contributed to The Yale Record and belonged to Scroll and Key before returning to design our clubhouse in 1915.
What followed was a body of work that would come to define the look of Yale itself. Rogers went on to design Branford College (1917-1920) and, in 1924, created a master plan for the entire university. Over the next two decades, spanning the years between the two World Wars, he shaped most of Yale’s central campus in the Collegiate Gothic style he helped pioneer. He is often credited as the architect who made Yale look like Yale.
His work at Yale includes:
- Sterling Memorial Library
- Harkness Memorial Tower
- Eight of the original 10 Colleges
Branford, Berkeley, Davenport, Jonathan Edwards, Pierson, Saybrook, Timothy Dwight, and Trumbull - Sterling Law Building
- Hall of Graduate Studies
- University Theatre and Drama School
- Beta Theta Pi
- Psi Upsilon, later the Fence Club
- Delta Kappa Epsilon
- Alpha Delta Phi
Rogers’s influence extended well beyond New Haven. In New York City, he designed buildings for Columbia and NYU, along with Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Union Theological Seminary, All Angels’ Church, and Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church.
The James Gamble Rogers Papers, part of the Yale University Archives, are available for research.
We are all custodians of Fifty Vanderbilt’s legacy.
If you value your membership and are in a position to offer additional support for the clubhouse, a donation to The Fifty Vanderbilt Foundation offers a tax-deductible way to directly benefit these preservation efforts and furthering the cherished community that makes its home there.
Thank you to our generous donors.
We extend sincere thanks to the donors whose support preserves our historic home, strengthens our community, and secures our future.
DONOR LEVELS
Conservator: $1-2,499
Champion: $2,500-4,999
Yale Club Circle: $5,000-9,999
Bulldog Benefactor: $10,000-24,999
Presidents’ Council: $25,000-49,999
James Gamble Rogers Benefactor: $50,000-99,999
Fifty Vanderbilt Patron: $100,000-249,999
Preservation Society: $25,000+
WITH GRATITUDE
Preservation Visionary ($250,000 and above)
Philip G. Potter
Fifty Vanderbilt Patron ($100,000 – $249,999)
The H. and A.H. Rosenthal Foundation
Presidents’ Council ($25,000 – $49,999)
Anonymous
Kinderhook Industries
Yale Club Circle ($5,000 – $9,999)
Elizabeth T. & Robert S. Goizueta
The Leona M. & Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust Grant
Kenneth Inadomi
Neil Mazzella
Moore PA Hire Inc.
Venable LLP
Champion ($2,500 – $4,999)
Amy Butte
Mark Elliott
Dev Gandhi
Michael Hennessy
Hilary & Neil Hohmann
Yoshiko Inoue
Lily, Christina & Guy Milone Jr.
Paul Sarkozi
Acheson Doyle Partners Architects P.C.
Bojan Hohnjec Studio
Flowers and Creations NYC
RFB+Fisher Potter Hodas
Conservator ($1 – $2,499)
Marissa Ain
John Asiel
Fabio & Ann Aversa
Arvin Bagherpour
William Baker
Marvin B. Berenblum
Ted Berenblum
Frederick Berg Jr.
Brandon Blaesser
Eugene Bogen
Charles M. Brennan III
Stephen & Kimberly Brilz
Martin Brown Jr.
Louise Burnham Parkard & Murray Metcalfe
Debbie Bush
Ian Calderon
Joann M. Calderone
Joseph F. Callo
Dick Cavett
Michael Charrier
William Childs
David Chou
Remie Christ
Chris Christopoulos
Margaret Chustecki
Ben Cifu
Leslie Cockburn
Charles Cook
Daniel R. Cooperman
Ginger Craft
Michael Curry
Julia D’Amico
Harry Day
Deborah Rose
James DeGraffenreidt Jr.
Joseph Dempsey
Gregory Dubinsky
David Edelman
Eamon Egan
Ellen Estes
Christopher Fazekas
William Feltus
Elizabeth Ferando
Paul Finn
Brookfield Fitzgerald
James Ford
Stefan Ford
Michael Freeland
Timothy Fritzinger
Gregory Fullerton
Robert Gimbel
Melanie Ginter
Donald Glascoff
Adam Gordon
Jean Gould
Judith Grebin
Richard Grimm
Thomas Halsey
Russell Handelman
Gerry Harrington
John Maynard Harris
Froma Harrop
Jonathan Herrick
Robert Herrmann
Emily Hill
Charlotte Hitchcock
Tonny Ho
Elizabeth Hodapp
Robin Hogen
Margaret S. Horn
Richard & Jennifer Hubbell
Jonathan Ingham
Daniela Ioan
Molly James
Timothy James
Richard Johnson
Van & Katherine Johnson
Leo Kayser III
Anne Keating
Michael Kendall
Timothy Kilbourn
Kim King
Lauren Koster
Scott Kyreakakis
Lynne LaCascia
Eugene Lewis
Nicholas Lobenthal
Clara Lucio
Cameron MacDougall
Mary Martin
Leann Maurice
Ashbrook McCann
Bruce McDonald
Stuart McGuigan
James McGuire
Betty McKinley
Helen McSweeney
Joshua Metlay
Calvin Mew
Richard Moggio
Michael Mulhern
Jun Murakami
Michael Murphy
Anna Murray
Paul M. Mutter
Jerrold Newman
Stanley Ng
Mallet Njonkem
Edward O’Connell
Bo Oh
Joan O’Meara Winant
Amy Oshinsky
Norma Padron
John Pearce
David Pearson
Richard Pechter
William Perlstein
George Philipose
Julia Pimsleur
Allan Rabinowitz
Hunter Reisner
Douglas Reitter
David Richards
Mark Riely
Rebecca D. Robbins
Lynn Rollins
Lori Rosenfeld
Robert Rounsavall
Julia Sabetta
Lawrence Schuster
James Schweitzer
Louise P. Sclafani
Will Sealy
Shital Sharma
Jay Sherwood
William Shikani
Lauren Silberman
Anne Smart
David Smith
Edwin Smith
Wak Smith
Chandragupta Sooran
Robert Staffaroni
Glenn Sullivan
Lloyd Suttle
Hans Taggarse
Janitra Taylor
Chaeri Tornay
Ryan Turner
Sharon Vaino
Robert Vanecko
Eric Velazquez
Tony Vinals
Susanne von Turk
Samuel Waksal
Dr. Catherine A. Waldrop
Ting Wang
Ed Washecka
Alicia Washington
John & Louise Wellemeyer
Peter Wells
Sara Werder
Col. Robert P. Whalen Jr.
Edward Wheeler
Olumide S. Wilkey
Liam Will
Catherine Windels
Andrew Wittenstein
Ben Yang
Glenda Yenicag
Alan Yuspeh
Paul Zalon
William Zichawo
The Blackbaud Giving Fund
Condon O’Meara McGinty & Donnelly LLP
Grand Meridian Printing
Moët & Chandon
Norton Rose Fulbright
Simon Industries
Yale College Class of 1967