Syracuse University alumni Robert and Carol Tannenhauser will be donating $100,000 to the Burton Blatt Institute, the couple announced Tuesday. The donation is one of the largest private donations given to BBI to date.

Anthony Adornato, director of communications at BBI, said the institute works to advance the civic, economic and social participation of people with disabilities. This includes research that enables people with disabilities to be involved with activities such as employment and arts programs for students, Adornato said. He said BBI also works to ensure buildings are accessible to people with disabilities.

Use of the donation money was left to BBI’s discretion, Adornato said. He said the money will be used to advance BBI’s programs in outreach and entrepreneurship.

Robert Tannenhauser, CEO of The Ruxton Capital Group LLC, graduated from SU in 1966. Carol Tannenhauser, an author and journalist, graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1970.

‘BBI is a premier organization dedicated to making life better for people with disabilities, not just in the U.S., but around the world,’ said Robert Tannenhauser in an email. ‘As SU alums, we were looking for a way to support excellence at SU and we found it at BBI.’

‘Simply put, we want the money to have impact and to help people with disabilities,’ he said. ‘BBI’s track record in New York and beyond in helping people with disabilities get jobs and be entrepreneurs is exactly the kind of impact we want to support at SU.’

BBI was launched at SU in 2005. The institute is named in honor of Burton Blatt, a former dean of the School of Education, Adornato said. He said Blatt was a ‘pioneer in disability rights in this area.’

snbouvia@syr.edu 

Published on September 6, 2011 at 12:00 pm