Kenneth Downie

The Middletons are engaged philanthropists focused on education and workforce development, ending homelessness, and medical research. Their philanthropy ranges from supporting youth in North Philadelphia to backing research on neurological disorders. The Middleton's bold vision and leadership helped create an unprecidented public private partnership which has given hope and opportunity to thousands of people and families experiencing homelessness. Their recent innovative gift to Project HOME served as the stimulus to generate further funding and support for what would become several multi-million dollar projects in North Philadelphia. As champions in the area of education, the Middleton's investments support professional development, workforce and career training for inner city youth. They also focus on programs and resources directed toward the city's highest need schools Their interest in building a healthier society has led them to underwrite comprehensive research in addictive disorders, depressive disorders, and neurological disease, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The goal of this interdisciplinary effort is to develop new science and to translate existing science into improved clinical care for patients. In creating the Philadelphia Award in 1921, Edward Bok said "the idea of service as a test of good citizenship should be kept constantly before the minds of the people of Philadelphia". Leigh and John Middleton's actions embody the spirit of the Philadelphia Award as their generosity is helping to transform Philadelphia. Decades from now, our region will look back at their vision, leadership, and investment in our community with deep gratitude and respect.

His team’s cancer gene therapy research has triggered vast professional interest and global media coverage in well over a thousand news outlets since its first round of groundbreaking results were published in August 2011 in the New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine. Those papers detailed the world’s first successful and sustained demonstration of the use of gene transfer therapy to create designer T cells aimed at battling cancerous tumors. Of the first three desperately ill chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients treated with the new approach, two went into complete remissions following their treatment; a third patient achieved a partial remission. Most recently, his team has presented more stunning results of the ongoing trial for patients with advanced blood cancers: of 12 patients treated with the protocol as of December 2012, nine – including two children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia – had responded, and still today, two of the first three adult patients in the trial remain healthy and in remission, more than two and a half years after their treatment. The new cells’ persistence has held up, too – tests show the modified T cells are still circulating in their bodies, primed to attack new cancer cells if they reappear. The new treatment approach far exceeded the expectations of the Penn investigators and of other top cancer experts, who had been buffeted by years of false starts and disappointments in the field of cancer gene therapy. Dr. June’s academic achievements include more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, election to the Institute of Medicine -- one of the nation's highest honors in biomedicine -- and the 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America. Dr. June is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and Baylor College of Medicine. He completed graduate training in immunology and malaria at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and post-doctoral training in transplantation biology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He has received numerous awards and grants for his innovative work, including a Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Freedom to Discover Research Grant, the William B. Coley Award from the Cancer Research Institute, the Ernest Beutler Prize from the American Society of Hematology, and the Joan Miller and Linda Bernstein Gene Therapy Ovarian Cancer Award from the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy. Recognized by his peers and leaders around the world, Dr. June’s cancer gene therapy research will forever impact the medical field and Philadelphians alike. Dr. June’s commitment and service to this work truly embodies the spirit of the Philadelphia Award.

The Barnes Foundation was created in 1922 by Albert Barnes (1872-1951), making his magnificent art collection (rich in work by Matisse, Renoir, Cezanne, Picasso and other masters) available for public viewing and education. He hired the neoclassical architect Paul Philippe Cret (1930 Award) to design the elegant building, which showcased the collection on Barnes’s Main Line estate. An eccentric art enthusiast and chemist who made his fortune by developing the anti-gonorrheal drug Argyrol, Barnes had strong views on how his collection should be viewed, which he stipulated in the indenture of trust setting up the foundation. In 2002 the board of the Barnes Foundation decided that, to uphold the foundation’s mission of public accessibility as set out in the trust, they had to challenge the provisions in the indenture requiring the collection to be viewed as it was installed in Merion. Residents had long complained of tour buses in the affluent neighborhood, and the membership and number of visitors to the financially struggling foundation were a fraction of what it could be in the city. The following year, Neubauer and Roberts were appointed to the board, as part of a campaign to revitalize the Barnes. Neubauer and Roberts stood bravely in the face of virulent opposition from the Friends of the Barnes and other opponents of the proposed move, who contended that the invaluable Barnes experience could only be had by visiting the galleries and arboretum on the 12-acre Lower Merion estate. The issue played itself out in Montgomery County courtrooms, ending on October 5, 2011, when the Friends of the Barnes decided not to appeal the second decision (the first in 2004) of Judge Stanley Ott authorizing the change of venue. Joseph Neubauer was born in Israel after his parents fled Nazi Germany. At the age of fourteen, he immigrated alone to the United States to further his education while living with his aunt and uncle in Danvers, Massachusetts. He learned English by watching John Wayne movies. Neubauer earned a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. From 1965 until 1979, Neubauer held various executive positions at Chase Manhattan Bank and PepsiCo. Since 1983, Neubauer has been the chief executive officer and board chairman of ARAMARK, a leading provider of facility, uniform, and food services to businesses, sports venues, schools, hospitals, and universities. In 2012 the company had over 250,000 employees in 22 countries. The Neubauer family established the Neubauer Family Foundation, which has funded fellowships in numerous universities and contributed to many cultural institutions, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and WHYY. As vice chair of the board and head of the development committee of the Barnes Foundation, Neubauer employed his characteristic ebullience to persuade potential donor -- individuals, corporations, and foundations -- of the wisdom behind the proposed move. While readily conceding that the “fantastic collection” would attract some visitors even “if we put it in a Quonset hut,” Neubauer argued that the planned creation of a much more accessible space adhered to Barnes’s original vision. Barnes had been alienated from the stodgy art establishment of early 20th Century Philadelphia, whose conservative tastes did not embrace the work of the impressionists and early modernists. In the spirit of Barnes, the new museum would include ample space for the work of contemporary artists. Barnes had established his foundation to educate “the working classes,” rather than cater to Philadelphia’s social elite. The new museum would have extensive educational programming, which together with its central location, would bring art and art appreciation to an immensely larger number of people. The museum would be a boost to Philadelphia as a tourist location, establishing an art corridor on the Parkway of the Barnes, the Rodin Museum, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Aileen Roberts, a philanthropist and civic leader, studied architecture and design at North Carolina State University and the University of Pennsylvania. Roberts is the president of the Aileen and Brian Roberts Foundation, and is a leading board member of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She has served on the boards of the Franklin Institute, the Avenue of the Arts, and the International House. Her husband is Brian Roberts, chairman and chief executive officer of Comcast Cablevision, a Fortune 100 company. Roberts has been a planner and volunteer for Project H.O.M.E., an activist group that provides services and lobbies on behalf of the homeless. Roberts and her husband, together with Lynne and Harold Honickman, were honored for funding the group’s $13.5 million learning center in North Philadelphia, providing computer labs and other services to help homeless people turn their lives around. As chair of the board’s building committee, Roberts oversaw the selection of the architects and architectural plan. In an interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Roberts reflected that the project was “enormously complicated,” because of “site constraints, budgetary demands, and the mandate to replicate the Barnes galleries.” Architects and academics were widely consulted by Roberts and her colleagues. To find the right architect and design, Roberts inspected (by her own count) 25 to 30 museums in America and Europe “to see what was the newest, latest, and greatest that we could do.” In 2007 the exhaustive search ended with the selection of architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. Completed in early 2012, the museum is a two-story, 93,000-square foot building, with a 12,000-square foot space housing the original Barnes collection, closely replicating the unique, densely hung galleries of the museum in Lower Merion, as stipulated in the trust. The building features a 5,000-square foot Special Exhibitions Gallery, classrooms, auditorium, conservation lab, research department, gift shop, and outdoor café. Roberts described the design features which reflected, and even enhanced, the closeness to nature of the Barnes experience in Lower Merion: “Set in generous gardens with walkways and water features, this dignified building has a unique glass canopy that will filter natural light into the galleries during the day and by night will be a softly glowing beacon.” Moreover, the Barnes estate in Lower Merion would remain open to the public, featuring the foundation’s famed gardens and horticultural program. An admirer of the sculptor Ellsworth Kelly, Neubauer commissioned the construction of Kelly’s sculpture, The Barnes Totem. The 40-foot stainless-steel totem, outstretched toward the sky, is stationed near the entrance of the museum, facing a pool lined with ten red maples. Neubauer declared that the sculpture was a welcome sign to the visitors and passersby of the museum.

Bast grew up in a middle class family in Wayside, New Jersey. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Bast started a career in business development and marketing for medical companies, married, and gave birth to her first child in 1988. Then, her health began to fail. For years, Bast suffered from numerous, painful symptoms. She experienced hair loss, tooth decay, extreme fatigue, chronic migraines, canker sores, diarrhea, bloating, gastrointestinal pain, and tingling sensations in her fingers and toes. After one stillborn child and three midterm miscarriages, the 5-foot 9-inch Bast weighed just 105 pounds and kept getting sicker. Her second daughter was born seven weeks premature and weighed two pounds. In the decade since her symptoms had begun, Bast visited 22 doctors, none of whom correctly diagnosed her. Finally, a veterinarian suspected that Bast’s symptoms were food-related. A simple blood test confirmed the diagnosis of celiac disease. An estimated 3 million Americans of all races, ages, and genders suffer from celiac disease and a staggering 95% of celiacs (people with celiac disease) are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. A pharmaceutical cure for the disease has not been found and the only treatment is a lifelong gluten-free diet. In 2003, Bast founded the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA) with a dual mission: to increase awareness of celiac disease in order to make early diagnosis standard, and to raise funds to support medical research and education. While the NFCA is not the only organization to support celiacs, Bast’s initiatives are the first to actively work to diagnose them. Since the establishment of the NFCA, the rate of diagnosis has dropped significantly from eleven to six years. To increase early diagnosis, Bast joined forces with area hospitals to create celiac centers which treat patients throughout the region. With a grant from the National Institutes of Health in 2004, Bast organized an international medical advisory board to help physicians diagnose celiac disease more quickly. She produced free online resources about celiac disease, through which primary-care physicians can earn continuing medical-education credits by studying. Bast and the NFCA then challenged the food industry not only to produce more gluten-free food, but also to make it less expensive and more widely available. In 2006, she consulted with Anheuser-Bush in launching their first gluten-free beer and worked with Whole Foods, Wegmans and Walmart to develop their gluten-free lines. The NFCA also introduced a program which trains chefs and restaurants to prepare gluten-free food. Bast declared Philadelphia to be the first Gluten-Free Neighborhood in America, because of her organization’s success in educating the area’s doctors and food industry; all major Philadelphia sports teams offer gluten-free concessions at every game. Bast was chosen as the recipient of the 2010 Award for her “tireless passion for health and education [that] has shined light upon a disease that went undiagnosed for decades.” The award recognized “her drive to bring relief and treatment to those dealing with celiac disease in Philadelphia and throughout the world—no matter their financial background.”

Early in her career, Brown went “where the money was,” touring as a member of dance revues for Cab Calloway, Pearl Bailey, and Sammy Davis, Jr. Yet, this was not the type of dancing she wanted to do. In 1960 Brown started her own dance school in West Philadelphia called the Philadelphia School of Dance Arts. The school grew quickly, attracting primarily African-American students, including many from low-income homes. Brown became frustrated as many of her most exceptional students quit or moved to New York City because Philadelphia lacked opportunities. So, in 1970 Brown and Mary Sherrill started the Philadelphia Dance Company, better known today as Philadanco, as a vehicle for professional success for minority dancers. At its outset the troupe consisted of 17 star pupils from her dance school. As artistic director and chief administrator, Brown was responsible for selecting and guiding the dancers and choreographers, raising funds and controlling expenses, and securing venues for performances. After one year of operation, the budget for her entire company was only $15,000. In 1982 Brown moved the company from its small, confining quarters at 6249 Market St. to a new location at 9 Preston St. in University City, with three spacious studios, dressing rooms, offices, and a small performance center. From its inception, Philadanco was a modern dance company, but ballet, tap, jazz and African dance were incorporated into many of their performances. The company has always been racially integrated, but the majority of the dancers are African-American and many of its dances express themes related to the black experience. The music is as eclectic as the dance styles—a typical evening performance consisting of three or four dances might include classical music by Bach, Berlioz and Tchaikovsky; classic jazz by Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus; rock by Santana and Prince; soul music by Aretha Franklin and the Supremes; and African music and rhythms. Philadanco is often praised by critics for its “rocketing energy” and adventuresome choreography. Symbolic of its artistic triumph, Philadanco was chosen as the resident dance company at the Kimmel Center in 2000. Brown was crucial to this success. She created an atmosphere in the company that was supportive and familial, where the dancers often called her “mom” or “Aunt Joan.” At the same time, she pressed hard for the dancers to achieve ever more. Brown set the artistic tone—daring, diverse in style, technically challenging, and entertaining. She kept the books balanced and was a superb fundraiser. Typically, she worked 12 to 14 hour days. Brown is invariably described as extremely energetic, enthusiastic, and charming, with an “iron will.” When presenting the Philadelphia Award in 2009, Donald Parks praised Brown for breaking down racial barriers in dance, and for her influence having “touched countless individuals over the years.”.

The Lenfests earned the 2008 Philadelphia Award in recognition of their “generous support of many of the city’s civic and cultural institutions, including the Art Museum, the Curtis Institute, and the Kimmel Center.” Pew Charitable Trust president Rebecca W. Rimel stated, “I don’t think…any other two individuals have stepped up in such a bold fashion and have given so much of themselves and their resources to not only making Philadelphia a rich community, but also the role that they have played on a national stage.” In 1974, Gerry Lenfest borrowed $2.3 million dollars and bought a cable business with 7,600 subscribers in Lebanon, Pennsylvania from Walter Annenberg’s media company, Triangle Publications, where he managed Seventeen magazine and worked as a staff attorney. The couple, who were in their 40’s and had three young children at the time of the acquisition, operated the business, literally, at the kitchen table of their home. Marguerite reflected on their foray as entrepreneurs: “We had confidence in ourselves. He was a lawyer and could always go back to that. I was a schoolteacher and could go back to that. . . I don’t think we analyzed things the way they do today.” Over the years, Suburban Cable was transformed into one of the nation’s largest “cable ‘clusters.’” At the time of the sale to AT&T in the late 1990’s, the Lenfests’ cable business was the Philadelphia region’s largest with 1.2 million subscribers. Although the Lenfests have made donations to causes throughout the world, several organizations in Philadelphia and the surrounding area have greatly benefited from their largesse. Gerry oversees the couple’s largest gifts, and has conceded that he is “the more impulsive and liberal giver,” whereas Marguerite “is the more practical and conservative giver” who tries to measure the impact of the gift on the recipient before making a decision.. By 2009 the Lenfests had given away or committed close to an estimated $800 million. The Chronicle of Philanthropy announced in its 2008 annual list of top charitable donors that Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest had given away nearly $140 million – “more than all but five other living individuals or couples” at that time. Most of the Lenfests charitable contributions have been committed to artistic, cultural or educational institutions. The Lenfests decided against setting up a perpetual foundation, because so often foundations stray from the vision and priorities of their founders. The couple set up a charitable foundation to give away “every last penny” within twenty years of the last one’s death. They will not bequeath any of their money to their three children, who each earned a fortune of their own from the sale of their ownership in the family business. In fact, taking a cue from their parents, the children have all set up their own foundations. Gerry Lenfest says of his philanthropy: “There is a lot of pleasure in life just to have your funds go the way you feel it will provide the most good.”

Mattleman was raised in the Wynnefield section of Philadelphia. Her businessman father and homemaker mother instilled in her the belief that “what was important in life … [was] that sense of giving back.” Mattleman earned her Ph.D. in Education from Temple University, where she also taught for 18 years as a professor of reading and language. Her educational expertise and civic-minded personality allowed her to make an easy transition from academia to the government and non-profit sectors. In 1984, Mayor Wilson Goode appointed Mattleman as executive director of the Mayor’s Commission on Literacy. Over half a million people in Philadelphia were estimated to be functionally illiterate (reading at a fourth grade level or less), a situation Mattleman said reflected a “national emergency” of adult illiteracy. Mattleman had full access to a supportive mayor, and raised over one million dollars, mainly from foundations, for the commission’s work during its first year. Mattleman organized tutoring programs that trained volunteers to teach the city’s illiterate population. Her office in the City Hall Annex was always open to anyone who hoped to learn how to read. She persuaded churches, corporations, and various other organizations to establish teaching sites in their buildings to combat illiteracy. Mattleman’s innovative computer based tutorials assisted instructors, and an electronic networking program enabled literacy groups to exchange information. By the fall of 1985, the city had 200 sites throughout the city where volunteers tutored adults. The program’s success established Philadelphia as a leader in the fight against illiteracy. In 1989, Mattleman, with a worthy successor in place as executive director of the commission, founded the Philadelphia Futures Program, in affiliation with the Philadelphia Urban Coalition. Her Philadelphia Futures Program matched up students with donors and mentors to help the students (in Mattleman’s words), “prepare for college and the world of work.” The mentors offer guidance and a positive role model, while donors provide up to $2,000 of financial support for each year of college. The efforts of Mattleman and the Philadelphia Futures program were nationally recognized by President Clinton at the White House in 1994. Mattleman resigned from the Philadelphia Futures Program in 1997, explaining at the time, “I love start-up, I love new challenges.” She quickly accepted a new challenge in response to President Clinton’s America Reads Challenge in 1998. Mayor Ed Rendell named Mattleman to be the executive director of the Philadelphia Reads program. She drummed up the necessary financial support to implement the “100 Book Challenge,” which challenged students (kindergarten through third grade) to each read 100 books over the course of the school year. Mattleman launched a citywide “Books Not Guns” campaign to provide books to students who lacked books at home. In 2002, Mattleman founded After School Activities Partnerships (ASAP), which established activities for students, ranging from debate teams and chess clubs to dance clubs and yoga. Once again, Mattleman raised an army of volunteers to provide valuable services. After winning the Philadelphia Award in 2007, Mattleman commented, “When you have a kid go to college who never thought they could, or learn to read, or win a chess tournament…it’s wonderful to see.

Leonore and her husband were “partners in philanthropy.” After his death Annenberg became trustee emeritae of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and served on the boards of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. She took, perhaps, a more active role in Philadelphia’s cultural life than did her husband. When he was asked why he did not leave his art collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, he replied “I happen to believe that strength should go to strength.” About the Philadelphia Award, Leonore Annenberg said: “Civic opportunity and responsibility are the core of a successful democracy. It is a delight to see this great city flourish as a world-class center for the arts, education, and medicine. Prior to receiving the award (there are those who speculate she received the 2006 Award specifically because of this fact), Mrs. Annenberg was instrumental in preventing Thomas Eakins’ masterwork, The Gross Clinic, from leaving Philadelphia by pledging $10 million. She committed the foundation for $30 million to relocate the Barnes Foundation from Lower Merion to Philadelphia. She directed over $6 million to the National Constitution Center and was generous to the institutions on whose boards she sat. Leonore Annenberg changed the Philadelphia social scene “through charm, a mastery of the art of hostessing, and a thick and ever-open checkbook.” Earlier in 2007, at the Academy of Music’s 150th anniversary gala, the 89-year old Annenberg, taking a cue from the academy’s own nickname, said: “I feel like the grand old lady of Locust Street.” But very few “grand old ladies” are known to watch Jeopardy with dinner served on tea trays, which she did.

Levy was born in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in a nearby suburb. While a Ph.D. student in history at Columbia University, Levy worked as a teacher at public schools in Brooklyn and the Bronx. “The subways were sweltering and smelly. Crime was a reality that cut very close and very personally,” Levy recalled. “It was not a great time for cities.” After being laid off due to budget cuts, he fled the city and moved to a farm in rural New York. Almost five years later, Levy visited Philadelphia during the 1976 Bicentennial celebration and, impressed by the city’s historic preservation efforts, moved to the city (as he said) “on impulse and without a job,” Not much else about Philadelphia impressed him. As Levy later explained, “Dirty, graffiti-covered streets, a public environment in disarray, broken car windows, aggressive panhandling all send the message that no once cares; that no one is in charge. Levy worked as a director at the Institute for the Study of Civic Values, the city housing and parking authority agencies, and the University of Pennsylvania’s real estate department. Since 1979, Levy has also been a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1990 Levy began his tenure as executive director of the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation (CPDC). With the CPDC, Levy organized numerous advocacy and planning initiatives to promote business development and improve the quality of life for residents, including a master plan for the cultural and residential development of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Soon after, Levy became the founding executive director of the Center City District (CCD) and has led the organization since 1991. The CCD is a corporation of business owners and commercial tenants, partnering with the City of Philadelphia to keep Center City clean, safe, and thriving. The starting point and linchpin of the group’s work, Levy believes, is security and cleanliness. The CCD’s ubiquitous street sweepers, with their attractive turquoise-colored uniforms, have transformed downtown from litter-strewn to pleasant and neat, aided by their regular power washing of the sidewalks. The street crew also provides information to the public and reports criminal and suspicious activity to the police. Under Levy’s leadership, the organization has added numerous streetlights, hundreds of new signs and maps, and over one thousand new trees and planters. The CCD also supports anti-graffiti campaigns and programs to help the homeless. Levy worked as a director at the Institute for the Study of Civic Values, the city housing and parking authority agencies, and the University of Pennsylvania’s real estate department. Since 1979, Levy has also been a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. During the CCD’s first fifteen years, serious crime in Center City was cut in half, petty crime decreased by 80%, sidewalk illumination doubled, and the number of fine-dining restaurants increased by 219%. The residential population reached 88,000 as 110 non-residential buildings were converted into 8200 housing units. Levy described these efforts as “laying the foundation today for expanding the revival across the entire city and region. Charisse Lillie announced that Levy was the recipient of the Philadelphia Award for his “continuous flow of ideas, leadership, and attention to the development and improvement of the Center City landscape…the paradigm of special services districts is now expanding to other neighborhoods and across North America and Europe. In response, Levy declared: “I am extraordinarily honored to receive this award and accept it on behalf of 100 uniformed staff of the CCD who have worked each day since 1991 to make Center City clean, safe, and attractive.