Bernard Marcus Philanthropy

Bernard Marcus Philanthropy

Bernard Marcus is one of the founders of the Home Depot.

Bernard Marcus studied to be a pharmacist at Rutgers University while working as a cabinet maker at his father’s shop. He later worked at a local drugstore as a pharmacist but eventually found became more interested in retail. He rose to the top ranks of Handy Dan Improvement Centers but was fired together with Home Depot co-founder Arthur Blank in 1978 after a disagreement with management. A year later, with the help of business financer Ken Langone, Marcus and Blank started Home Depot.

Bernard Marcus served as the company’s first CEO until 2002. His major philanthropic contributions are as follows:

  • A donation of over $200 million to fund the Georgia Aquarium, one of the largest aquariums in the world. It opened in 2005.
  • The establishment of the Marcus Institute, which aims to provide comprehensive aid to children with brain-related developmental disorders.
  • The establishment of the Marcus Foundation, an organization that focuses on addressing issues that concern children, medical research, free enterprise, and the Jewish community and causes.
  • The Marcus Foundation pledged $15 million for Georgia Tech’s Nanotechnology Research Center Building, a facility that supports nanotechnology research to fight cancer and other diseases, among other benefits of interdisciplinary nanoscience.
  • Bernard Marcus is chairman in the Israel Democracy Institute. The institute aims to further the democratic processes in Israel, particularly in the electoral system.
  • Bernard Marcus donated $3.9 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based in Atlanta, for the establishment of an emergency anthrax response center.
  • Bernard Marcus has made contributions worth $22 million made to other nonprofit groups.

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