Ira Drukier is an American hotelier and philanthropist. He co-owns BD Hotels, a hotel chain in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Biography

Early life

Ira Drukier grew up in

Rego Park Rego Park is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. Rego Park is bordered to the north by Elmhurst and Corona, to the east and south by Forest Hills, and to the west by Middle Village. Rego Park's boundaries include Queen ...

, a neighborhood of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

.Alex Williams
Lords of the Chambers
''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

'' His father, Charles Drukier, was a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to the United States in 1948.Real-Estate Daughters in the Wings: BD Hotels May Someday Be Led by the Founders' Daughters
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', July 21, 2013
''The New York Times'', February 20, 1988 He became a real estate investor on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

with another Holocaust survivor, Robert Born; they also purchased the Greystone Hotel at West 91st and Broadway. His mother was Toby Drukier. Drukier graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

in 1966, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering.Cornell and Iowa State Receive $20-Million-Plus Donations
''

The Chronicle of Philanthropy ''The Chronicle of Philanthropy'' is a magazine and digital platform that covers the nonprofit world of philanthropy. Based in Washington, D.C., it is aimed at charity leaders, foundation executives, fund raisers, and other people involved in ph ...

'', December 5, 2014$25 Million Gift from Gale and Ira Drukier Creates the Drukier Institute for Children's Health at Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College: Press Release, December 4, 2014 He then received a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United St ...

in 1973.

Career

He started his career at the David Sarnoff Research Center of the

RCA Corporation RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Company ...

in 1973, where he conducted research on microwave semiconductors. Three years later, in 1976, he started working at the Microwave Semiconductor Corporation (MSC), where he conducted research on high-power microwave transistors. After the merger of SMC with

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

in 1981, he was appointed as corporate vice president. He served in this capacity for two years, until 1983. In 1985, he co-founded BD Hotels, a hotel chain in

, with Richard Born, the son of his father's business partner Robert.John Holusha
SQUARE FEET/Manhattan; For 2 Hoteliers, A Freewheeling Business Style
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', July 4, 2004Ben Fischer
Ira and Gale Drukier give $25M to Weill Cornell
''New York Business Journal'', December 4, 2014 The company owns and operates about twenty-five hotels. They include The Mercer Hotel, the

Hotel Elysée Hotel Elysée is a hotel at 60 East 54th Street (between Madison and Park Avenues) in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The hotel was established by Swiss-born Max Haering in 1926 as a European-style hotel for the carriage trade. New York's ...

, the Maritime Hotel and The Jane as well as more affordable hotels like the Skyline and the Belvedere in New York City, and a Ramada Inn at the Newark airport. They have also developed the Greenwich Hotel located at North Moore and Greenwich Streets in

TriBeCa Tribeca ( ), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Str ...

with actor

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

, who owned the land upon which it was built. Moreover, they developed Townhouse in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Philanthropy

Much of his philanthropy has been centered on his commitment to his alma mater, Cornell University. He served on its board of trustees for eight years. He also served on the Cornell Tech Taskforce, which led to the establishment of the

Cornell Tech Cornell Tech is a graduate campus and research center of Cornell University on Roosevelt Island in Manhattan, New York City. It provides courses in technology, business, and design, and includes the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, a partners ...

campus on

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about long, wit ...

. Additionally, he serves as the chair of the council of the

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art ("The Johnson Museum") is an art museum located on the northwest corner of the Arts Quad on the main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its collection includes two windows from Frank Llo ...

on the Cornell campus. He has also served on the board of overseers of the

Weill Cornell Medical College Weill Cornell Medicine (; officially Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University), originally Cornell University Medical College, is the medical school of Cornell University, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in Ne ...

, which is located in New York City, since 2012. With his wife, he donated US$25 million to Cornell University in December 2014. The charitable gift will be used to establish the Drukier Institute for Children's Health at the Weill Cornell Medical College as well as an annual lectureship and faculty prize. Beyond Cornell, he is a patron of the arts. For example, he serves on the President's Council of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in New York City. He is a past chair of the board of trustees building committee of the Parrish Art Museum in

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stre ...

. Drukier has supported Jewish causes. He serves as vice chair of the American Society for

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

. He also serves on the board of overseers of the

Museum of Jewish Heritage The Museum of Jewish Heritage, located on Edmond J. Safra Plaza in Battery Park City in Manhattan, New York City, is a historical museum and a memorial to those murdered in The Holocaust. The museum has received more than two million visitors ...

Personal life

He is married to Gale Drukier, a retired college professor and current philanthropist. Gale serves on the board of numerous charities. They have one adult daughter, Jennifer Drukier. She has 4 children. They reside in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drukier, Ira Living people People from Rego Park, Queens People from New Jersey Cornell University College of Engineering alumni Polytechnic Institute of New York University alumni American hoteliers American philanthropists Philanthropists from New York (state) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews