Preston Robert Tisch, a member of the philanthropic Tisch family and co-owner of the New York Giants football team for 14 years, died Tuesday of brain cancer at his Manhattan home. He was 79.
Mr. Tisch was the brother of Laurence Tisch, one-time chairman of CBS, who died in 2003. Together they built a multibillion-dollar business empire and donated to an array of institutions, including New York University’s arts school and medical center, which are named for the Tisch family.
"He and his brother and their families were longtime, major philanthropic leaders of UJA-Federation and our work," said the group’s CEO, John Ruskay.
Mr. Tisch, the son of Russian emigre parents and a native of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, served as a member of the board of overseers of the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Battery Park City.
He was a supporter of several civic causes, including Citymeals-on-Wheels, the New York City Partnership, the Association for a Better New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Children’s Zoo at Central Park and the 92nd Street Y.
"Bob’s philanthropic work is perhaps his greatest legacy, and we are honored that he and his family made our museum a part of that legacy over the years," said Robert Morgenthau, chairman of the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
Mr. Tisch served as U.S. postmaster general and as operations chief of the Loews Corp. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 9, at Avery Fisher Hall.
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