About Us
Our Donor
Leon & Toby Cooperman
Cooperman College Scholars was established with a generous gift from Leon & Toby Cooperman. In a letter to Warren Buffet when they joined his Giving Pledge, Mr. Cooperman shared, “Toby and I feel it is our moral imperative to give others the opportunity to pursue the American dream by sharing our financial success.”
Mr. & Mrs. Cooperman’s desire to support students stems from their own successes made possible through hard work, college and public education. Mr. and Mrs. Cooperman both grew up in the South Bronx. The son of Jewish immigrants who fled Poland, Mr. Cooperman was raised with his brother in a tiny, one-bedroom apartment. His father worked as a plumber and died on the job; Mrs. Cooperman’s father sold bed linens. Mr. Cooperman attended public schools and was the first in his family to go to college. He completed his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at Hunter College. In his sophomore year of college, he met Mrs. Cooperman in French class and their first date was to the Junior prom.
Mr. Cooperman went on to Columbia Business School and from there to Goldman Sachs. Starting out, the young couple faced overwhelming student loan debt (and a negative net worth) while raising a six-month-old son, but Mr. Cooperman, always known for his prodigious work ethic, persevered and founded the asset-management business at Goldman Sachs, leaving after 25 years to launch his own hedge fund, Omega Advisors, Inc. Mrs. Cooperman retired from a career in special education at the Early Childhood Learning Center of New Jersey.
Cooperman College Scholars is based in Essex County where Mr. & Mrs. Cooperman have lived for over 40 years and raised their two sons.
The gift that launched Cooperman College Scholars is one of several made by Mr. & Mrs. Cooperman through their family foundation. As Mr. Cooperman shared in his book, “I know many people who are similarly situated, by both humble origin and hard-won accomplishment, whose greatest joy in life is to use their resources to improve their communities.”
