A Letter from the President

September 11, 2001 will go down in history as a time of tragedy and, I hope, the start of a time of solidarity, reflection, enlightenment and progress. As D.H. Lawrence once wrote, “Tragedy is like strong acid—it dissolves away all but the very gold of truth.” There is nothing like violence to promote peace, nothing like destruction to rekindle development, nothing like ignorance to prompt learning and nothing like cruelty to evoke tolerance.

Today, we see the American flag being waved by millions of people across the United States and in many other lands in an expression of common ideals and suffering for the loss of citizens from 80 nations as well as our own. The terrorist attacks have strengthened a global determination to fight blind and indiscriminate violence against civilians. The catastrophe has also united Americans more than ever in recent memory and unleashed a worldwide outpouring of sympathy. President Jacques Chirac of France may have best summed up these feelings when he said, “We bring you the total solidarity of France and the French people. It is solidarity of the heart.”

The tragedy’s international death toll, which had echoes of the 2000 U.S. Census, has made it very clear that America is a nation of nations. This gives us hope, for if we can better understand differences among ourselves, we can better understand people in the rest of the world—for they are us. Here in the U.S., as well as abroad, it is imperative to expand understanding between the three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and between other religions, as well. Indeed, there is a need for better understanding and dialogue even within the Muslim community itself, here in the U.S. and abroad. Islam, after all, is not a monolith, but represents a complex diversity of traditions and teachings on virtue, justice, tolerance, violence, life and death.

As America contemplates its next steps, it is time to take a longer view. I believe that rising from the ashes of this disaster there is a new sense of unity, urgency and opportunity to continue our pursuit of international peace through education and knowledge. After all, that was the vision of Carnegie Corporation’s founder, Andrew Carnegie.

Our founder’s vision continues to inspire our mission and our programs, which, I believe, have never been more timely. It’s fitting, then, that this year we are paying a centennial tribute to him. For it was 100 years ago, on March 2, 1901, that Carnegie sold his steel empire so as to concentrate his mind and his fortune, then one of the world’s largest, on philanthropy. He invested the bulk of his fortune in the pursuit of world peace and the promotion of greater knowledge and understanding. Carnegie was sure of mankind’s needs for peace and potential for enlightenment and progress—that is why he directed his trustees to adjust their agenda once “war is discarded.”

This December, representatives from institutions that Carnegie created will gather to honor him and renew inspiration for the future. Carnegie was a humanitarian on a worldwide scale and a model for the great good a single person can still achieve.

In just one of the many ways he addressed global concerns, he created nearly two dozen institutions, whose names alone give a sense of the breadth of his humanitarian vision: In addition to Carnegie Corporation of New York, he established Carnegie Hall, the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Institute, the Technical Schools that became Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Carnegie Dunfermline Trust in Scotland, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie United Kingdom Trust and Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs. One of Carnegie’s favorite causes was to honor heroes who risked their lives, and often lost them, while saving, or attempting to save, the lives of others. To recognize these unsung heroes and provide financial assistance to their surviving families, he created the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission in the United States, the Carnegie Hero Fund Trust in the United Kingdom, Fondation Carnegie in France, Carnegie Heltefund for Norge in Norway, Fondation Carnegie pour les Sauveteurs in Switzerland, Carnegie Heldenfonds in The Netherlands, Carnegiestiftelsen in Sweden, Carnegie Belønningsfud for Heltemod in Denmark, Fondation Carnegie in Belgium and Fondazione Carnegie in Italy

Like the United States’ motto, E Pluribus Unum—out of many, one—Carnegie institutions have diverse roles but are united in working for international peace through knowledge and understanding, while honoring individual acts of valor on behalf of humanity, as well. We at Carnegie Corporation of New York look forward to welcoming members of our extended family this winter and together celebrating the life and contributions of a great Scotsman, an American and a citizen of the world.

Vartan Gregorian
President

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