NEWARK, NJ - Jonathan Tisch, the Jersey-born third-generation hotelier and business-leader, and his wife Lizzie, are contributing $5 million to NJPAC’s 20th-anniversary capital campaign.

The donation will be used to support the Arts Center as it expands its work in arts education, civic and community engagement. In recognition of their gift, the stage of the Arts Center’s Victoria Theater will be named the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Stage.

“My family and I have always had an affection for the Garden State. Even though I don’t currently live in New Jersey, I recognize the value of ensuring that future generations here can embrace, enjoy and benefit from the arts and culture,” Jonathan Tisch said.

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Tisch, is the Chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels & Co, is also Co-Chairman of the Board and a member of the Office of the President of Loews Corporation and is a co-owner, with his siblings and the Mara family, of the New York Giants.

“Having known and respected John Schreiber [President and CEO of NJPAC] for many years and having met his colleagues and learning about the goals of the campaign, my wife and I wanted to support the work being done at NJPAC, and help it continue its important mission for decades to come," Tisch said.

Tisch noted that his own son, Henry, got his introduction to the arts in part at NJPAC. “I have memories of taking him to a variety of performances at NJPAC when he was growing up. Now he’s 25, living in New York City and working on Broadway.”

The philanthropy of Lizzie and Jon Tisch "is renowned for its thoughtfulness and effectiveness. The Arts Center is proud and grateful that their belief in our work and mission has resulted in this transformational gift,” Schreiber said.

The gift will enable programming for the public on the Tisch Stage — including performances created and rehearsed by NJPAC students. The gift also includes support for the design and construction of a new education and community center on the NJPAC campus — which will become the first purpose-built home for arts training programs in the Arts Center’s history.





Tisch has deep roots in New Jersey. It was here that the Tisch family’s hospitality company began with a camp and a hotel called Laurel in the Pines, in Lakewood. They were bought and run by Jon Tisch’s grandparents, Sadie and Al Tisch, and his father Bob and uncle Larry, in the 1940s. Both were so successful that they expanded their business to Atlantic City, where Jonathan Tisch was born in 1953. At one point, the family owned five hotels in the seaside resort town.