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INSIDE
SIPA
Donor Profiles: Jim (MIA ’77) and Sandra (MIA ’76) Leitner
Jim (MIA ’77) and Sandra (MIA ’76) Leitner
have been advocates for interdisciplinary, international
education ever since they met as students
at the then School of International
Affairs. As students, both shared interests in Soviet
history—Sandra because of her experience studying
in Armenia during her junior year of college, Jim
because of a brilliant professor who engaged his
interest in Russia when he was an undergraduate at
Yale. As alumni, they share a commitment to philanthropy.
Both came to SIPA for the strong regional studies
that the Harriman Institute offered. Sandra’s experience
in Armenia encouraged her to learn about the
Soviet system in depth, while Jim studied international
finance in addition to Russian history and politics.
“Finance was a natural in New York with its
concentration of banks and brokerage houses,” he
said. By his second year, Jim had a part-time job,
which led to a full-time job when he graduated. He
has been working in international finance ever since.
“Finance to me is the ultimate applied liberal
art,” said Jim. “Here all interdisciplinary studies
come together—economics, politics, history, psychology.
There is virtually no knowledge which does
not come in handy when making decisions about
markets.” Jim has specialized in what he calls
“macro investing,” which looks at investments from
the top down, first choosing themes or regions that
seem promising, rather than working from the bot-
turing of the East and West during the Cold War
taught me useful lessons about communication and
the behavior of organizations in an information vacuum,”
she explained.
Of their philanthropy, Jim said, “I have been fortunate
to fall into a career which is very lucrative. Of
course, this has allowed Sandra and me to become
more involved philanthropically than we might have
been otherwise. But I think it is important to be
involved at any level, with all one’s talents, not
merely financially. And I would also stress that
becoming involved earlier rather than later is important.
Being engaged makes the donor’s life more fulfilled,
so why wait?”
“SIPA’s focus on international and public service
makes it a natural place for us to give, both as alumni
to ‘pay forward’ what we received and to enable
future graduates to make a difference to the lives of
many people in many places in the world,” Jim said.
For Sandra, “philanthropy and service were
never a conscious decision but rather a way of life
that we each learned from our parents and grandparents.
My grandparents had escaped the genocide of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and were always
cognizant of the sufferings of others. Implied in that
awareness was the obligation to alleviate want and
contribute to the betterment of mankind.”
Jim and Sandra’s financial support of SIPA and
Columbia has been substantial over the years. In
2001, they created the Dr. John N. Hazard
Education and human rights are two main themes of
our philanthropy. We believe in encouraging students
to study and work outside of their home nations to
encourage human understanding and tolerance.
60th Anniversary Committee.
This past fall, Jim and Sandra created the Leitner
Family Fellowship Fund to provide funding for graduate
students enrolled at SIPA. In addition, to further
support their belief in regional area studies, they
funded a professorship in African Studies that will
help strengthen the Institute of African Studies and
benefit instruction throughout the University.
“Education and human rights are two main
themes of our philanthropy. We believe in encouraging
students to study and work outside of their home
nations to encourage human understanding and tolerance.
Regional area studies meet these criteria [and]
provide the foundation to apply theoretical knowledge.
Imagine thinking about economic development
in a vacuum. What makes it real is application.”
We are extremely grateful for the generous support
the Leitners have demonstrated to SIPA’s
regional institutes and students over the years. We
are proud to have Jim and Sandra among our alumni
and hope they will continue to be closely involved
with SIPA and the regional institutes for a long time
to come.
tom up, searching for companies that look cheap.
“The interdisciplinary nature of a SIPA education is
absolutely on target to assist in this decision making
process,” he added. Jim currently heads up his own
fund, where he has managed absolute return portfolios
since 1991.
Sandra’s career in public relations and human
resources has also benefited greatly from her education
at SIPA. “Studying closed systems and the pos-
Fellowship Fund for first-year students in honor of
their former professor Dr. John N. Hazard, an academic
specialist in Russian legal history and professor
of law. The Leitners also have provided funding
to the Institute of Latin American Studies and the
Institute of African Studies specifically to support
students pursuing summer internships abroad. They
have also been consistent contributors to SIPA’s
Annual Fund. And last year, Jim served on SIPA’s
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