Donald S. Stralem, American investment banker. Member of Commodity Exchange of New York, Trustee, chairman finance committee Spence School, New York; member,; member overseers commission to visit department fine arts and Fogg Museum Harvard University; member committee Armed Forces.; member of the board appeals Incorporated. Village North Hills, Long Island.
Background
Stralem was born to a Jewish family, in Portuguese Washington, New York on Long Island on June 28, 1903 to Casimir Ignace Stralem and Edithe Alice (Neustadt) Stralem (his father had changed the family surname from Strahlheim to Stralem in 1901).
Education
He graduated from the Morristown School in Morristown, New Jersey (now the Morristown-Beard School) in 1920. Stralem then completed his bachelor"s degree at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1924.
Career
Stralem worked as a partner in Hallgarten & Company and then served as chairman of Stralem and Company, an international investment bank that he founded in 1967. He also co-founded the North Shore Hospital in Manhasset, New New York While at Harvard, Stralem participated in the Morristown School Club, an affinity group at the university.
He later served on the Committee of Overseers for the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard.
Stralem did his graduate studies at the Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Stralem worked as a leading figure in the travelers aid movement.
He served as president of the Travelers Aid Society of New York (TASNY) for six years and then served as its vice president Stralem served as president of the National Travelers Aid Association and chaired their 1950 biennial convention.
Recognizing the impact of his philanthropy on the local area, New York City named him as an honorary deputy commissioner of the Fire Department.
Stralem served a president of the United Service Organizations Fund of New New York GJRA provided citizenship training for children. Stralem served on the Board of Directors of film production corporations, including Columbia Pictures Corporation and Screen Gems.
He chaired the Finance Committee of Sony Pictures" Board.
Stralem also served on the Board of Directors of telecommunication companies (eg, Continental Telephone Company, Independent telephone company) and industrial companies (eg, Atlantic Gulf Petroleum, United States Leather Company, Stahl-Meyer)
They had one daughter, Lynn Stralem. Jean Stralem owned an extensive private art collection, which featured works by Pablo Picasso, Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
She also collected rare first-edition children"s books and miniature furniture. Paralleling her husband"s philanthropy, Jean Stralem served on the Board of Directors of the American Theatre Wing and Lighthouse International in New York City.
She served as vice president of Lighthouse International in 1973 and then as vice chairman.
Jean Stralem also served as a vice chairman of Seeing Eye"s 1938 fundraising campaign. Stralem competed in tennis against other investment bankers. He was a finalist in the 1951 tournament held by the Bond Club of New York, an association of Wall Street executives.
Achievements
Membership
Member of Commodity Exchange of New York, Trustee, chairman finance committee Spence School, New New York Member,; member overseers commission to visit department fine arts and Fogg Museum Harvard University. Member committee Armed Forces.
Member of the board appeals Incorporated.
Village North Hills, Long Island. Clubs: Harvard, Grolier, Bond, Wall Street, Sands Point Golf, Sands Point Bath and Tennis, Town Tennis, Harvor View, Stock Exchange Luncheon, Lambs (New York City).
Connections
Married Jean Lehman Ickelheimer, April 10, 1928. Children: Sandra Jean, Sharon Lynn.
Awarded certificate commendation by United States Navy for contributing to welfare personnel, 1943. Chairman finance committee, 1950-1953, chairman activities committee, 1953-1956, chairman of the executive committee, 1956-1958, National Travelers Aid Association (president director). Member of advisory board Girl Scout American Council of Greater New New YorktempSpaceTrustee Kirk Douglas Foundation.
President George Junior Republic Association. Incorporated: director Travelers Aid Society New New York
Awarded certificate commendation by United States Navy for contributing to welfare personnel, 1943. Chairman finance committee, 1950-1953, chairman activities committee, 1953-1956, chairman of the executive committee, 1956-1958, National Travelers Aid Association (president director). Member of advisory board Girl Scout American Council of Greater New New YorktempSpaceTrustee Kirk Douglas Foundation.
President George Junior Republic Association. Incorporated: director Travelers Aid Society New New York