Ernest E. Stempel ’38 er n eSt e. St emPeL ’38, former vice chairman and director of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), former member of Manhattan’s board of trustees and a leading supporter of the College, passed away April 14, 2009. He was 92. Stempel was widely regarded as a pioneer in the insurance industry. Long in leadership at AIG, he was close to the company’s founder, C.V. Starr, and was a principal player in the expansion of the unusual firm, which was divided into more than 200 companies and spread throughout the world. According to the Wall Street Journal, former AIG CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg said that Stempel was one of “a small group of senior people that built AIG, like a band of brothers.” Stempel started at the company that would become AIG right after graduation from Manhattan College in 1938. He worked as a clerk in fire insurance and attended Fordham Law School at night. During World War II, he joined the Navy and the war in the Pacific as a lieutenant and then returned to the company after the war. In 1953, C.V. Starr sent Stempel to Bermuda, where he managed American International Reinsurance Company Inc.’s (AIRCO) non-life insurance product growth and developed markets in Asia, particularly in the Philippines. He was instrumental in bringing C.V. Starr insurance to Asia and often traveled there during a period of 40 years — he even knew many of those nations’ leaders. He became president and director of AIRCO in 1963, was named a senior advisor of AIG in 1982, and became vice chairman of the life insurance interests of the sprawling organization in 1989. In the meantime, he had also earned LL.M. and J.S.D. degrees from New York University. In 1986, Manhattan College awarded Stempel an honorary LL.D. C.V. Starr tapped Stempel to serve as a director of his charitable foundation, the Starr Foundation, and Stempel also created his own charitable foundation, the Ernest E. Stempel Foundation, to support worthy causes. Through the foundations, Stempel supported Manhattan College, as well as a number of educational and environmental causes. At Manhattan, he established the Ernest E. Stempel Foundation Scholarship and the C.V. Starr Foundation Scholarship, both of which provide funds for students who need financial aid. Students have expressed appreciation for the help these scholarships offered. John Donodeo ’06 was one such student who received the Ernest E. Stempel Scholarship for two years. “I cannot express in words how grateful I am … I will always be grateful for [Stempel’s] assistance,” Donodeo wrote. Brother Thomas Scanlan, F.S.C., former Manhattan College president, wrote in a letter to Stempel’s widow: “I consider myself privileged to have known him. We first met 22 years ago when I became president of Manhattan College. Many students at Manhattan have benefited from [Ernie’s] great generosity to alma mater, and many, many more will benefit in the future from the Starr Endowment that he was so instrumental in establishing and funding.” Stempel is survived by his wife Brendalyn; his children Diana, Calvin and Neil; and his brother Lionel ’41. He was predeceased by his first wife Phyllis, and his son Robert.
56
Fall09ManObits-SHIP.indd 4
thomas E. Gilbart t h o ma S e. GiLBa r t , Ph .D., associate professor emeritus of psychology and retired director of the counseling center, died in April. He was 73. Gilbart received a B.S. in education from Mount St. Mary’s College in 1961, and an M.S. in education in 1962 and a Ph.D. from St. John’s University. He served in the Marine Corps and spent a year as a teaching fellow at St. John’s before coming to Manhattan in 1963. Gilbart started as assistant director of the counseling center and also worked as an instructor in the psychology department. He retired in 1995.
manhattan.edu
12/1/09 2:41:20 PM