Peter Lehman Buttenwieser (December 9, 1935 – February 4, 2018) was an American educator, philanthropist, and Democratic Party fundraiser. He was a member of the

Lehman family The Lehman family (also Lehmann, Liehmann or Liehman) is a prominent family of Jewish German-Americans who founded the financial firm Lehman Brothers. Some were also involved in American politics. Members have married into the prominent Morgen ...

Biography

Buttenwieser was born in New York City to investment banker

Benjamin Buttenwieser Benjamin Joseph Buttenwieser (October 22, 1900 – December 31, 1991) was an American banker, philanthropist and civic leader in New York. Background Buttenwieser was born to a Jewish family. His father was Joseph L. Buttenwieser. He had an ol ...

and lawyer Helen Lehman Buttenwieser. His paternal grandfather was real-estate developer

Joseph L. Buttenwieser Joseph Leon Buttenwieser (1865–1938) was an American lawyer, philanthropist, and civic leader in New York. Biography Buttenwieser was born to a American Jews, Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of immigrants from Germany. Bu ...

and his mother's family owned

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

. His mother was a niece of Herbert H. Lehman, who served as the United States Senator from New York and the 45th

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...

. Through his mother, he is a cousin of John Langeloth Loeb Jr., former

United States Ambassador to Denmark The first representative from the United States to Denmark was appointed in 1827 as a chargé d'affaires. There followed a series of chargés and ministers until 1890 when the first full ambassador ''(envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoten ...

and grandson of Carl M. Loeb, namesake of the brokerage Loeb, Rhoades & Co. He attended

the Putney School The Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. The school was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton on the principles of the Progressive Education movement and the teachings of its principal exponent, John Dewey. It is a co-e ...

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

and graduated from Columbia College in 1958. He then received his master's degree in history from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

before earning a doctorate from

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is the graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College has been a part of Columbia University since ...

. Buttenwieser taught at the

Dalton School The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...

for two years before leaving for

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

as part of a federal teaching exchange program. During the mid-1960s, he taught in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

, headed the Pennsylvania Advancement School, and founded the Durham Child Development Center in 1970. Later in his life, Buttenwieser became involved in politics and was, as described by ''Mother Jones'' magazine in 2004, among the most generous Democratic donors for nearly a decade. In 1997, he was the fourth largest "soft money" donor to the Democratic Party, and was the sixth largest donor in 1999. He was also among the largest political contributors in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and supported for the campaigns of prominent politicians such as

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American politician, author, and former prosecutor who served as the 45th governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011. He previously served as chair of the national Democratic Party from 1999 to 2 ...

Paul Wellstone Paul David Wellstone (July 21, 1944 – October 25, 2002) was an American academic, author, and politician who represented Minnesota in the United States Senate from 1991 until he was killed in a plane crash near Eveleth, Minnesota, in 2002. A m ...

Michelle Nunn Mary Michelle Nunn (born November 16, 1966) is an American philanthropic executive and politician. Since 2015 she has been president and CEO oCARE USA the American national member of CARE International, the humanitarian aid and international devel ...

Tammy Baldwin Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party (United Stat ...

, and

Bob Casey Jr. Robert Patrick Casey Jr. (born April 13, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician who served from 2007 to 2025 as a United States senator from Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Casey is ...

During the

2000 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 7, 2000. Republican Party (United States), Republican Governor George W. Bush of Texas, the eldest son of 41st President George H. W. Bush, ...

alone, he donated $1 million to various Democratic Party candidates. Buttenwieser served on the board of

EMILY's List EMILYs List is a left-leaning American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "E ...

to help advance female candidates and of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. He was also an inaugural member of the "Chairman's Circle" of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

, set up for donors of at least $500,000.

Personal life

In 1960, Buttenwieser married

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

graduate Elizabeth Werthan, daughter of Albert Werthan, chairman of

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

-based Werthan Industries. They had two daughters, Sarah Buttenwieser and Julie Suh, before divorcing. His daughter, Julie Buttenwieser, was educated at

Germantown Friends School Germantown Friends School (GFS) is a coeducational independent PreK–12 school in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States under the supervision of Germantown Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of ...

and

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

. She is married to

Gibson Dunn Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1890, the firm has more than 1,900 attorneys and 1,000 staff in 21 offices across the world, including North America, Europe, ...

partner and sports litigation lawyer Maurice Suh, who was a former deputy mayor of Los Angeles in charge of public safety under

Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr. on January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary C ...

. He received his bachelor's degree and law degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and was known for defending

Floyd Landis Floyd Landis (born October 14, 1975) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. At the 2006 Tour de France, he would have been the third non-European winner in the event's history, but was disqualified after testing positive for p ...

during his doping case. In 1986, Buttenwieser remarried Terry Ann Marek, who had a daughter before the marriage. Buttenwieser died on February 4, 2018, of acute myeloid leukemia at his home outside

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttenwieser, Peter L. Buttenwieser family Lehman family Lewisohn family American philanthropists Philanthropists from Pennsylvania Columbia College (New York) alumni The Putney School alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Educators from Philadelphia Educators from New York City 1935 births 2018 deaths