Maurice R. Greenberg (known to all as “Hank”), who chaired The Starr Foundation from 1968 to 2024, was instrumental not only in solidifying C.V. Starr’s legacy but in exceeding even Mr. Starr’s ambitions for his business and philanthropic endeavors. As Mr. Starr’s handpicked successor as the head of the Starr Companies and The Starr Foundation, Mr. M.R. Greenberg united the Starr Companies into the American International Group (AIG) and built it into the largest insurance company in the world, ultimately operating in more than 130 countries. Propelled by the value of its underlying AIG stock, The Starr Foundation, under Mr. M.R. Greenberg’s six decades of leadership, grew into one of the foremost foundations in the United States, awarding more than $4 billion in grants to organizations worldwide.
Born in New York City in 1925, Mr. M.R. Greenberg enlisted at the age of 17 in the U.S. Army during World War II, landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day and participating in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. He served again in the Korean conflict, rising to the rank of Captain. Mr. M.R. Greenberg received a prelaw certificate from the University of Miami and a law degree from New York Law School in 1950, but he chose to enter the insurance industry instead of working in law.
Described by his colleagues and beneficiaries as focused, disciplined, generous, and an imaginative “force of nature,” Mr. M.R. Greenberg’s extraordinary business accomplishments are well-documented. Known for building business relationships over decades, he applied the same long-term philosophy to philanthropy.
Under his guidance, The Starr Foundation donated hundreds of millions of dollars to biomedical research, supporting individual institutions as well as collaborative partnerships that have led to scientific breakthroughs that are improving people’s lives around the world. Mr. M.R. Greenberg—who credits his college education, which was accessible through the GI Bill, for his success in business—also maintained Mr. Starr’s philanthropic focus on education, particularly scholarships, to ensure access to learning.
Like C.V. Starr, Mr. M.R. Greenberg was deeply committed to development in Asia. In his executive role, he deepened the Starr Companies’ relationships in the region, encouraging foreign investment and helping to bring China into the World Trade Organization. At the Foundation, he championed cross-cultural initiatives to build transpacific understanding. In recognition of his efforts to strengthen U.S.-China relations, Mr. M.R. Greenberg was made an honorary citizen of Shanghai and was appointed Shanghai’s first Chairman of the International Business Leaders’ Advisory Council and Senior Economic Advisor to the Beijing Municipal Government. He is also a member of numerous distinguished Asian boards and academies.
Mr. M.R. Greenberg is Chairman Emeritus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Foundation Inc. and serves as either a Board member or a Trustee at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine, the Rockefeller University, and New York University.
Mr. M.R. Greenberg serves as Honorary Vice Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, as Vice Chairman of the National Committee on United States–China Relations, as a member of the Board of the U.S.-China Business Council, and on the President’s Council on International Activities of Yale University. He is a former Chairman and Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and has served on the Board of the New York Stock Exchange and the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. He is active on the boards of many other civic and charitable organizations worldwide.
He has been granted honorary degrees from numerous institutions, including New York Law School, Brown University, Middlebury College, and the Rockefeller University.
Mr. M.R. Greenberg was married for 74 years to the late Corinne P. Greenberg, who was an active partner in his philanthropic activities, and he has four children.