SOURCE OF WEALTH: Television Host, Journalist
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Arts & Culture, Health
OVERVIEW: Barbara Walters is a major benefactor of her alma mater, Sarah Lawrence College, in New York. She has given the institution at least $16 million in grants. Walters has supported arts institutions and has an interest in health causes. Information about her charitable trust is hard to come by.
BACKGROUND: Born in 1929 in Boston, Barbara Jill Walters graduated with a B.A. in English from Sarah Lawrence College in 1953. In the early 1950s, she wrote for The Morning Show on CBS. She also held long-standing jobs on NBC’s Today show and ABC’s 20/20. In 1997, Walters created the popular daytime talk show, The View. She died in 2022.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Walters is an alum of Sarah Lawrence College. In 2002, she gave the school $1 million, helping to construct the Barbara Walters Gallery in the Heimbold Visual Arts Center. Earlier that decade, she made a $15 million grant to help construct the Barbara Walters Campus Center, which hosts events, dining, and social activities.
ARTS & CULTURE: Walters has supported Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Met.
HEALTH: Walters has been associated with such charities as American Foundation for AIDS Research, American Heart Association, American Stroke Association, Cancer Research Institute, and Michael J. Fox Foundation. Walters’ brother passed away from pneumonia and her sister was developmentally disabled.
LOOKING FORWARD: With Walters’ charitable trust flying well below the radar, some important grants may be missing from this rundown. It is unclear if her philanthropy will continue after her death.
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