2018 Lilac Ball to Honor Martin Lipton and John L. Vogelstein

The two honorees’ passion for educational advancement is enormous: "Well-educated citizens from all backgrounds are the bedrock of democracy," said Mr. Lipton. "This principle inspired my good friend John Vogelstein and me to build Prep for Prep into the outstanding organization it is today. We are proud to serve as the evening’s Honorees." 

The two former Prep Board Chairs have been instrumental in transforming Prep into one of the nation’s foremost educational and leadership development programs. They have been the bedrock of Prep’s foundation and expansion, advising the organization on finance and investments, board relations, donor recruitment, school relations, and countless other committees – all of the behind the scenes support that then allows the faculty, staff, and alumni to focus on nurturing new generations of student leaders. 

Together, they championed the concept of expanding the program through college graduation and then set about tirelessly funding that vision. Prep’s comprehensive education model seems obvious today, but as alum Diahann Billings-Burford (VI/Poly Prep '90, Yale '94) JD, Columbia '02 said in 1999 when Mr. Lipton and Mr. Vogelstein were previously co-honored, "It was largely through their commitment that Prep can have the resources to do a thorough job, do it right, and do it over a long enough period of time that there is actually a result achieved." 

ABOUT JOHN L. VOGELSTEIN 
John L. Vogelstein is a pioneer in private equity. He joined Warburg Pincus at its founding in 1967 and retired as its President in 2002. He is currently a special limited partner of Warburg Pincus and is Chairman of New Providence Asset Management, a firm he founded in 2003. Over his 65 years in the investment business he has served on the Boards of Directors of numerous public companies. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, Mr. Vogelstein was a partner of Lazard Freres & Co. He became a Prep Trustee in 1983, was elected Board President in 1990, and assumed the role of Chairman in 2002. In 2012 he became Chairman Emeritus, having paved the way for successive board presidents to step into well-established leadership roles. 

A lifelong philanthropist, Mr. Vogelstein is Chairman of Third Way, a Democratic think tank. He has been a director of the New York City Ballet since 1988 and served as its Chairman from 2008 to 2012. He was a Trustee of the Taft School for 20 years and its Chairman from 1999 to 2002. He has been a Trustee of New York University and The Leonard N. Stern School of Business, and he was President of the Jewish Museum. 

His wife, Barbara Manfrey Vogelstein, spent several decades in venture capital and equity investing. She is currently Chairman of the Boards of the Brooklyn Museum and the School of American Ballet, and she is a director of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Third Way, and the Grand Teton Music Festival, and was formerly a Trustee of Vassar College. 

ABOUT MARTIN LIPTON 
Martin Lipton joined Prep’s Board in 1988. He was elected to Chairman in 1990 and has served as Chairman Emeritus since 2002. He is a founding partner of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, specializing in advising major corporations on mergers and acquisitions and matters affecting corporate policy and strategy. For over two decades, he has championed professional opportunities for Prep students at Wachtell, where 58 Prep students have interned to date and gone on to launch impressive careers in a range of sectors. Mr. Lipton also spent 20 years as an adjunct professor and lecturer at New York University School of Law while continuing his corporate law practice. He was instrumental in making NYU, its law school, and its hospital into world-class institutions. 

In addition to 30 years of service to Prep for Prep, he is a longtime Trustee of New York University, New York University School of Law, and the NYU Langone Medical Center. He also devotes his time to the Council of the American Law Institute, the Institute of Judicial Administration, The American College of Governance Counsel, and the Partnership for New York City. His wife, Susan Lipton, was the first woman to become a partner at law firm Greenberg Traurig, before embarking on a career in investment banking. Their educational affiliations include the University of Pennsylvania, New York University School of Law, University of Miami, and Harvard Law School. 

ABOUT THE LILAC BALL
The Lilac Ball is Prep for Prep’s signature annual event that honors leaders with a commitment to education and celebrates the outstanding college choices of Prep’s graduating high school seniors. Proceeds from the event support Prep's mission of creating a more diverse national leadership pool. All funds raised through the Lilac Ball go directly to Prep programming; event-related expenses are underwritten by the Board of Trustees. 

ABOUT PREP FOR PREP 
Founded in 1978, Prep for Prep is an educational, leadership development program that prepares and places New York City’s most promising students of color into independent schools and provides them with ongoing support and life-changing opportunities. Nearly 90% of its college graduates earned their degrees from the most competitive colleges in the country; 34% graduated from Ivy League universities. The top five colleges attended by Prep alumni are Columbia, Harvard, Penn, Wesleyan, and Yale. Over 4,500 members of the Prep Community are living proof that the potential for academic and professional success exists in all ethnic groups and socioeconomic classes.