Irving Schneider, University trustee emeritus and the largest benefactor of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, died on Nov. 23 in Palm Beach, Fla. He was 93.

Schneider's relationship with Brandeis can be traced to World War II, said Stuart Altman, Heller's former dean and Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy, in an interview with the Justice. When Schneider was in the U.S Army Air Corps, he befriended Abram Sachar who became the University's first president in 1948.

Schneider served on the Board of Trustees from 1970 to 1994 and as vice chair from 1971 to 1983 and 1987 to 1993.

He was not only a leader at Brandeis, said Altman, but was also a co-chair and chief operating officer at Helmsley-Spear, Inc., a real estate company in New York where he worked for more than 50 years.

Though Schneider's business was real estate, his passion was health care policy. From his success as a real estate agent in New York, he became an important donor to the Heller School, contributing $20 million to Brandeis-first to create the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy in 1978 and later for the construction of the Irving Schneider and Family Building at the Heller School which was opened in 2006. In 1991, he became a member of the Heller Board of Overseers.

"I don't think it's an exaggeration to say without Irving Schneider, the Heller School would not be the school it is today," said Altman. "He has been our largest benefactor. ... The Heller School ... is one of the top social policy schools in the country [which is] to a large part related to the generosity of Irving."

Schneider received an honorary doctorate of humane letters in 1983 due to his charitable gifts and dedication to Brandeis. Long Island University and Tel Aviv University also gave Schneider honorary degrees.

Schneider's philanthropy also extended beyond Brandeis in his support for Jewish organizations and hospitals. "One of his greatest achievements was the building of the Schneider Children's [Medical Center] in Israel, the finest hospital of its kind in the Middle East," said President Emeritus Jehuda Reinharz in an email to the Justice. The hospital, located in a suburb of Tel Aviv, cares for both Israeli and Arab children in and around Israel. It receives patients from as far as Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe and is the first and only children's hospital in Israel, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

"[U]ltimately, I think Irving became the largest single donor to the state of Israel," said Altman, most of the money going toward what he defined as "a true world-class hospital" that "competes with the finest children's hospitals in the world."

Schneider's family has also supported the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System for nearly 50 years. Schneider served on the board and as an honorary chairman until 2010 when he chose to devote his time and money to the Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel.

Schneider was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and graduated from the City College of New York in 1939. He is survived by his daughters, Mindy Schneider Lesser '75 and Lynn Schneider, both of whom are active at Brandeis, and four grandchildren: Jeremiah, Max, Katie and Jake. His wife, Helen, died in 2001.

Funeral services were held last Monday at Central Synagogue in New York City.

"Everyone here at Brandeis should recognize that ... [he] was one of the really important forces to make Brandeis the world-class institution it is today," said Altman.

University President Frederick Lawrence said, according to BrandeisNOW, "He embraced the Heller School's mission-knowledge advancing social justice-and generously supported the pioneering work being done there. May his memory be a blessing."