Eugene Michael Lang (March 16, 1919 – April 8, 2017) was an American businessman andphilanthropist who founded REFAC Technology Development Corporation in 1951. REFAC held patents relating to liquid crystal displays, automated teller machines, credit card verification systems, bar code scanners, video cassette recorders, cassette players, camcorders, electronic keyboards, and spreadsheets, and filed thousands of lawsuits against other corporations as part of a strategic operational and technological licensing and exportation process. Lang created theI Have A Dream Foundation in 1981,Project Pericles in 2001, and the Lang Youth Medical Program in 2003.[1][2][3] He was also the chairman of the board atSwarthmore College.[4]
Lang was born in 1919 in New York City,[5] the son of Ida (née Kaslow) and Daniel Lang,Jewish immigrants from Russia andHungary.[6] He attendedpublic schools includingTownsend Harris High School. At the age of 15 he was admitted as a scholarship student toSwarthmore College,[7] and received aB.A. in economics in 1938. He then received aM.S. fromColumbia Business School in 1940.[8] He studied mechanical engineering at theBrooklyn Polytechnic Institute from 1940 to 1941.[9]
Lang created theI Have A Dream Foundation in 1981,Project Pericles in 2001, and the Lang Youth Medical Program in 2003.[1] He has also made large donations toSwarthmore College,[10]The New School's undergraduate liberal arts college (now known asEugene Lang College), and the Eugene M. Lang Center for Entrepreneurship atColumbia Business School, which is part of Columbia University.
In 1986, Lang received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually byJefferson Awards.[11] Also that yearHarry Reasoner interviewed Lang discussing the school program for the news show60 minutes.
In 1996, PresidentBill Clinton awarded him thePresidential Medal of Freedom. His philanthropies, focused primarily on education, altogether exceed $150,000,000. Due to his philanthropy in education, he held 38 honorary degrees as of December 2012.[12]
In 2003 he endowed the Lang Youth Medical Program atNewYork-Presbyterian-Columbia Medical Center. This 6-year program immerses underservedWashington Heights youths in science-based afterschool program.[13]
Lang was married to Theresa (née Volmar) Lang from 1946 until her death in 2008. They had three children:Jane Lang, David Lang andStephen Lang.
Lang died at his home in New York City on April 8, 2017, at the age of 98.[14]
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