In 2006 Rutgers’ Office of Alumni Relations published the below article lauding Richard Shindell.On April 13, 2007, Richard Shindell and Jeff Klepacki stood before Rutgers Board of Governors.Jeff presented Bruce Nicholas’ pledge of another million dollars to Rutgers Crew.Mr. Shindell passionately advocated reinstatement of the Olympic sports and Jeff personally pledged 50,000 dollars.The Board and President McCormick were unmoved, even seemed offended.While it’s likely that many charitable institutions would rather not be accountable to their donors and the legislature, wealthy individuals are well advised to carefully evaluate accountability when making charitable contribution decisions.
Richard Shindell Endows Rutgers Chair in Neuroscience
June 15, 2006
NEW BRUNSWICK/PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers University Board of Governors today approved the creation of the Richard H. Shindell Chair in Neuroscience in the Division of Life Sciences. The board appointed Dr. Wise Young as the first holder of the chair, commencing Oct. 30, 2006. Shindell, a 1957 Rutgers College alumnus and longtime donor to the university, is making a $3 million gift to his alma mater to establish the endowed chair.
“Richard Shindell’s commitment to create this new chair is an expression of both his generosity and his vision,” said Richard L. McCormick, president of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. “His gift and the chair it endows will strengthen Rutgers’ extraordinary efforts in spinal cord and other neuroscience research and holds the potential of having a worldwide impact on debilitating neurological diseases and disorders. I applaud the board’s selection of Wise Young as the first Richard H. Shindell Professor of Neuroscience.” Young, a world authority on spinal cord injury and other aspects of neuroscience, has served with distinction as director of the W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers and as a professor of cell biology and neuroscience. He is also an articulate and passionate spokesperson on stem cell research, a potential source of nerve cell regeneration therapies for damaged spinal cord tissue.
“During my initial visit to the Keck Center, I was deeply moved and began to comprehend the team spirit and real caring for the injured that is so evident there,” Shindell said. “Their ‘Wall of Hope’ – photos of people, now friends, with spinal cord injury – underscores the commitment of Dr. Young and the center to move new therapies quickly from the lab bench to the bedside. I knew I had to do what ever I could to support this work.”
Before his retirement, Shindell was a vice president of T. Rowe Price, an investment management firm. He and his wife Donna, formerly of Baltimore, Md., now reside in Pennsylvania.
As an undergraduate, Shindell pursued studies in economics and participated in the Rutgers Glee Club. Since graduation, he has been a member of the Rutgers Alumni Association and through financial donations has supported the Glee Club, including the “Soup” Walter endowment fund, the Class of 1957 Fund, the University President’s Fund, the Rutgers College Academic Excellence Fund and the Rutgers athletic department.
Shindell is a member of the Leadership Council of the Mason Gross School of the Arts and formerly served as a member of the board of directors of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and chaired the orchestra’s governing members group.