Cornell University plans to rename one of its main campus roads in honor of Charles F. “Chuck” Feeney ’56, founding chairman of The Atlantic Philanthropies and the university’s most generous donor.
Feeney invested nearly $1 billion, mostly anonymously, throughout the university over a period of nearly 40 years. Even after his worldwide philanthropy was revealed in the late 1990s, he still chose not to connect his name in any form to the many institutions he supported. That is why there has never been a space, program, scholarship, professorship or any other entity bearing his name at Cornell.
Now, by renaming East Avenue as Feeney Way, university leaders have found a way to recognize his generous and unprecedented giving across Cornell and – most important to Feeney – inspire future generations of Cornellians to give back to their communities in whatever way they can.
