George J. Ames, managing director in the investment banking firm of Lazard Fr¶res & Co. LLC and a leader in Columbia College alumni affairs, will receive the 1996 Alexander Hamilton Medal, the College's highest honor, it has been announced.
Mr. Ames, a 1937 graduate of the school, will accept the award in ceremonies at a black tie dinner Thursday, Nov. 21, in the Rotunda of Low Memorial Library on the Columbia University campus. The annual medal has been given since 1947 to present or former Columbia faculty members or alumni/ae for "distinguished service and accomplishment in any field of human endeavor." Previous recipients have included Jacques Barzun, Meyer Schapiro, Lionel Trilling and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The award is named for the statesman of the Revolutionary period who attended King's College, as Columbia was then known.
Mr. Ames has been chairman of the College's Board of Visitors for the past eight years and has been a generous source of advice and support for four College deans. His contributions are rebuilding the University's Butler Library, helping recruit top faculty and improving student housing, among other things.
He joined Lazard Fr¶res upon graduation from Columbia almost 60 years ago and, except for a four-year tour with the Navy, has spent his entire career there. He became a general partner in 1957 and limited partner in 1988. He is currently a limited managing director. He has a law degree from Fordham.
He is a trustee of New York Medical College and Hartley House, a director of the Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Fund for the Hudson Highlands, chairman emeritus of the Louis August Jonas Foundation and chairman of the advisory board of the Westchester branch of Saint Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center.
Speakers at the award ceremony will include President George Rupp of Columbia, Dean Austin E. Quigley of the College, honorary dinner chairman Felix Rohatyn, co-chairman Robert M. Rosencrans, alumni association president Carlos R. Munoz, and Mr. Ames.
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