In His Own Words. A Q&A with Vartan Gregorian Part 1 of 5.

In the first installment of a wide-ranging interview which will be released in five parts over the course of 2010 and 2011, Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York, discusses Andrew Carnegie's distinct vision and its impact on the grantmaker as a young boy of Armenian parentage growing up in Iran. He then discusses the impulses that drove Carnegie's philanthropy and how they distinguished the Scottish-born industrialist from another father of American philanthropy, John D. Rockefeller. Focusing on the notion of perpetuity that Mr. Carnegie built-in to the Corporation, Gregorian speaks about the constant pressure it exerts on a grantmaking foundation to remain relevant. Gregorian concludes the first installment of the interview with his thoughts on why Carnegie Corporation's centennial must also be a teaching moment.

Citation: 

Gregorian, Vartan. In His Own Words. A Q&A with Vartan Gregorian Part 1 of 5. Interview. Carnegie Corporation of New York. 5 Apr. 2010. Web.