“We are delighted to honour Leonard Lauder for his commitment to Anglo-American cultural and trade relationships, dedication to the luxury beauty business in the UK, and his many philanthropic and charitable activities in the British Isles, all of which mark him out as a truly exceptional individual. When Mr Lauder’s mother, Estée Lauder, chose Harrods as the company’s first retailer outside the United States, nearly 60 years ago, she not only sparked a beauty revolution in Britain, she also initiated an enduring investment in the country, a legacy that has flourished and grown under the leadership of her son, Leonard Lauder. But it is more than the commercial success of the relationship between Estée Lauder Companies and the UK that Walpole would like to mark with this award; Mr Lauder’s philanthropic values are well-known in the US, and should be much more widely recognised in the UK where his efforts have benefitted so many people - among the many charitable initiatives, $13 million has been given to UK breast cancer research and his love of British arts, culture and heritage has also helped support Historic Royal Palaces. On behalf of the British luxury sector, and our 270 members, Walpole would like to thank Mr Lauder for sixty years of a beautiful and very special relationship.”
Helen Brocklebank, CEO of Walpole.
About Mr Lauder
Leonard A. Lauder is Chairman Emeritus of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. and is currently the senior member of its Board of Directors. Founded in 1946, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers and marketers of prestige skin care, makeup, fragrance and hair care products, with annual sales of over $14 billion. It has more than 25 brands, and its products are sold in over 150 countries and territories.
Mr. Lauder currently serves as the Chairman Emeritus of the Whitney Museum of American Art, where he was a trustee from 1977 to 2011. He has been one of the museum’s most significant benefactors, giving a milestone gift of $131 million in 2008 to the museum’s endowment. In addition, he helped the Whitney acquire 948 works of art, 760 of which he gifted personally; another 188 pieces were brought in with the assistance of acquisition committees and other generous collectors.
In 2013 Mr. Lauder pledged his collection of 78 Cubist paintings, drawings and sculptures to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and has since added five major works to that promised gift. In concert with the donation of his Cubist collection, he helped establish the Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art, the first such center dedicated exclusively to modern art within an encyclopedic museum. The Center supports a robust program of fellowships, focused exhibitions and public lectures.
Mr. Lauder is the Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and the Honorary Chairman of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and is a major supporter of the University of Pennsylvania, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Aspen Institute and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Among Mr. Lauder’s honors are the Légion d’Honneur, the “Lone Sailor” Award given by the United States Navy Supply Corps Foundation, and the Palazzo Strozzi Renaissance Man of the Year Award. In 1983–1987 he served on the Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations to President Reagan.
The Lauder Family received the esteemed 2011 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in recognition of its long-standing commitment to philanthropy and public service. And in 2014 Mr. Lauder was named a Living Landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
Mr. Lauder was married to Evelyn H. Lauder (Founder, Breast Cancer Research Foundation) from 1959 until she passed away in 2011. They had two sons together, William (Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies) and Gary (Managing Director, Lauder Partners LLC), and five grandchildren.
On January 1, 2015, Mr. Lauder married Judy Glickman Lauder, a philanthropist and internationally recognized photographer whose work is represented in more than 300 public and private collections, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Whitney, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the United States Holocaust Museum.
Mr. Lauder and Ms. Glickman Lauder received the Gordon Parks Foundation Patron of the Arts Award in 2016.
www.esteelauder.co.uk
