Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz were both born in the Bronx. As children, they lived on the same Bronx street, and they attended the same Bronx school. They also grew up with the Jewish tradition of tzedakah, or charitable giving. So it makes perfect sense that the Katzes have been devoted and prolific supporters of a Bronx treasure like Albert Einstein College of Medicine for many decades. Their most recent gift of $5 million, which will support groundbreaking cancer research, is but the latest example of the couple’s history of care and generosity.
Stanley asked Marilyn to go on their first date—to see a movie—when she was 16 and he was 18. After several years of courtship, the Katzes married in 1953, the same year the great physicist Albert Einstein formally agreed to permit his name to be used for the new Bronx medical school.
At the time, the young newlyweds were living with Marilyn’s parents, Jack and Pearl Resnick. The family had just learned of the new medical school and its mission to improve the human condition through the science of medicine, and they quickly became enthusiastic supporters. What would eventually become known as Einstein’s Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus is not far from the street where Marilyn and Stanley met as children.
“Einstein, like the Bronx, has been a vital part of my life,” Marilyn says.
By the time Einstein welcomed its first students in 1955, the Katzes were on their way to becoming philanthropists in their own right. After attending college, Marilyn started teaching first grade in New York City. And after his law school graduation, Stanley began a professional career in real estate, at which time he made his own mark—following the family tradition of giving back.
“It was equally important to Marilyn and to me to build upon the legacy of supporting institutions that mean so much to our shared communities,” Stanley says. “It is an extremely rewarding experience, and we have been fortunate to have been involved at Einstein for so long.”
Stanley M. and Marilyn Katz at the Einstein Women’s Division's Spirit of Achievement Luncheon at the Rainbow Room in 2019.
The Katzes made a home of their own in Westchester County, where they raised three children. In 1970 Marilyn began her formal involvement with the College of Medicine as president of the Westchester/Fairfield chapter of Einstein’s Women’s Division, going on to serve on its national board as well.
Meanwhile, Marilyn’s father, along with her brother Burt, introduced Stanley to the College of Medicine’s Men’s Division. Stanley later served as the division’s chair and was elected to the Einstein Board of Overseers in 1983. Marilyn became a board member also in 1997.
Together, they endowed the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz deanship in 1998. That same year, Marilyn became founding chairperson of the Cancer Research Advisory Board of the Albert Einstein Cancer Center, partly in response to her sister’s tragic death from brain cancer. In 2008, the couple established the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Comprehensive Cancer Prevention and Control Program.
“Reducing the harm cancer causes is very important to us,” Marilyn says. “Einstein continues to be on the cutting edge of medical research, and there is still much to discover.”
Reducing the harm cancer causes is very important to us. Einstein continues to be on the cutting edge of medical research, and there is still much to discover.
— Marilyn Katz
When Marilyn and Stanley first joined Einstein’s Board of Trustees decades ago, the use of immunotherapy to treat cancer was in its infancy. But thanks to significant scientific research it has grown into arguably the most promising cancer-treatment advancement of the past 20 years.
This is why the Katzes have decided to fund the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Institute for Immunotherapy for Cancer and Inflammatory Disorders at Einstein, which brings together more than 45 leading scientists and clinicians from diverse fields at the National Cancer Institute-designated Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center (MECCC) to accelerate the development of lifesaving immunotherapies for treating cancers and other diseases.
“The implications of the research findings are wide-reaching, making new treatments and even cures possible for cancer and many other diseases,” Stanley says. “We are deeply grateful for the ability to contribute to Einstein’s continuing legacy of meaningful progress and achievement.”
The new institute—led by founding director and internationally prominent immunologist Xingxing Zang, Ph.D., a professor of microbiology & immunology, of oncology, of medicine, and of urology, the Louis Goldstein Swan Chair in Women’s Cancer Research, and a member of MECCC—honors the groundbreaking contributions being made by Einstein’s basic, translational, and clinical investigators.
“It’s hard to overstate the power of immunotherapies for treating various diseases, particularly cancers, and the impact that this new institute will have on our school,” says Yaron Tomer, M.D., the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean at Einstein and chief academic officer at Montefiore Medicine. “We are privileged to have the support of Mr. and Mrs. Katz, and I am personally very honored to hold the deanship in their name.” Dr. Tomer says he sees great potential for international collaborations and clinical trials, which would in turn support the emergence of more-effective, less-toxic therapies that can be delivered more precisely to cancer cells or immune cells.
The Katzes also allocated funding for an outdoor extension of Albert’s Den, the student lounge that opened last year.
In addition to supporting the immunotherapy institute, the Katzes’ $5 million act of generosity to Einstein also allocates funding for an outdoor extension of Albert’s Den, the student lounge that opened in September 2023. The area, which will be called the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Patio, will provide students and postdocs with additional space to gather, study, and enjoy some fresh air while they are on campus.
Stanley, who helped develop buildings in many medical complexes during his career as an attorney and real estate developer, is especially pleased to help make the students’ desires for an outdoor lounge a reality.
“It’s an honor to help enhance a space, especially for Einstein students,” he says. “As trustees, Marilyn and I want to ensure the continued success of the school, and we can do that by prioritizing our students’ needs with an expanded community area that they can call their own.”
Stanley and Marilyn recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Over the course of the past seven decades together, they have not only witnessed the founding of Einstein but also had the opportunity to aid the school’s development in myriad ways, supporting programs in Alzheimer’s research, cardiology, pediatrics, and gerontology, as well as holding leadership positions and hosting many memorable events.
At the core of their life together is the tradition of charitable giving they each learned as children and have embraced for a lifetime. “We are grateful that our commitment to each other, to the Bronx, and to Einstein remains steadfast,” she says.
Marilyn Katz standing in front of the Benefactors Wall at Einstein.
The couple during their courtship in July 1951, at Senate Caterers, a popular hall on Fordham Road owned by Mr. Katz’s uncle, Joseph Katz. The occasion was the wedding reception of Stanley’s older sister, Estelle.
Marilyn Katz and her mother, Pearl Resnick, at an Einstein gala held in Palm Beach, Fla., in the late 1960s or early 1970s.
The implications of the research findings are wide-reaching, making new treatments and even cures possible for cancer and many other diseases
— Stanley Katz
