Iris Cantor - Making a Difference

Iris Cantor

Before I become personally involved in a project, I look for two essential qualities. First, the cause must be something I feel passionate about. And second, I want to make a real difference by supporting that cause – and by encouraging others to do the same. --Iris Cantor

Share Iris Cantor is indeed making a difference – to the lasting benefit of those served by distinguished medical, educational and cultural institutions in the United States and around the world. As Chairman and President of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, she is dedicated to advancing knowledge that addresses the foremost medical challenges confronting humankind and to enhancing cultural life through support for the visual and performing arts.

Among her passions is her commitment to improving medical care options for women. She established the Iris Cantor Breast Imaging Center at UCLA in 1986 and next established a Women’s Health Center at UCLA that pioneered a holistic approach combining diagnosis, treatment and patient education all in one place. The success of this “one-stop-shopping” concept inspired the Iris Cantor Women’s Health Center at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, which opened in 2002 and is one of the world’s most comprehensive women’s health centers.

Iris Cantor has been a member of the Discovery Eye Foundation Board of Directors and a major supporter of the organization’s work since the 1980s, when she and her husband began funding research into the causes of and treatments for eye-related diseases. With support spanning more than two decades, the Cantor Foundation established the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Diabetic Eye Research Program and Laboratory at UCI, which opened in 2004 and has been responsible for important advances in eye research (including the development of a non-surgical procedure for treating vitreous hemorrhage).

In addition, Mrs. Cantor serves as a Trustee of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she has also been vice chairman of the Lying-In Hospital. She was on the Executive Board for Medical Sciences at UCLA and on the Board of Trustees of the Strang Cancer Prevention Center. For her philanthropic leadership Iris Cantor has received numerous awards. Recent among these are the Big Apple Award from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Trustee of the Year from New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from College of the Holy Cross, and the UCLA Medal, given to those who have made “truly extraordinary and distinguished contributions to society….” She was honored for her philanthropy in 2007 by the Discovery Eye Foundation.

A role model for women in the realms of business and philanthropy, Iris Cantor is widely known for her commitment, tenacity and effective leadership – and, above all, for leaving her mark on issues of vital importance to our society.