Peter L. Buttenwieser

Buttenwieser was born in New York City to investment banker Benjamin Buttenwieser and lawyer Helen Lehman Buttenwieser.[1] His paternal grandfather was real-estate developer Joseph L. Buttenwieser and his mother's family owned Lehman Brothers. His mother was a niece of Herbert H. Lehman, who served as the United States Senator from New York and the 45th Governor of New York. Through his mother, he is a cousin of John Langeloth Loeb Jr., former United States Ambassador to Denmark and grandson of Carl M. Loeb, namesake of the brokerage Loeb, Rhoades & Co.

He attended the Putney School in Vermont and graduated from Columbia College in 1958.[4] He then received his master's degree in history from Harvard University before earning a doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University.[5]

Buttenwieser taught at the Dalton School for two years before leaving for Uganda as part of a federal teaching exchange program. During the mid-1960s, he taught in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, headed the Pennsylvania Advancement School, and founded the Durham Child Development Center in 1970.[6]

Later in his life, Buttenwieser became involved in politics and was, as described by Mother Jones magazine in 2004, among the most generous Democratic donors for nearly a decade.[7][8] In 1997, he was the fourth largest "soft money" donor to the Democratic Party, and was the sixth largest donor in 1999.[9] He was also among the largest political contributors in Pennsylvania and supported for the campaigns of prominent politicians such as Ed Rendell, Paul Wellstone,[7] Michelle Nunn,[10] Tammy Baldwin,[11] and Bob Casey Jr.[1][12][13] During the 2000 United States presidential election alone, he donated $1 million to various Democratic Party candidates.[14][15]

Buttenwieser served on the board of EMILY's List to help advance female candidates and of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.[1] He was also an inaugural member of the "Chairman's Circle" of the Democratic National Committee, set up for donors of at least $500,000.[16]

In 1960, Buttenwieser married Radcliffe College graduate Elizabeth Werthan, daughter of Albert Werthan, chairman of Nashville-based Werthan Industries.[5][17] They had two daughters, Sarah Buttenwieser and Julie Suh, before divorcing.[1][18]

His daughter, Julie Buttenwieser, was educated at Germantown Friends School and Barnard College.[19][20] She is married to Gibson Dunn partner and sports litigation lawyer Maurice Suh, who was a former deputy mayor of Los Angeles in charge of public safety under Antonio Villaraigosa.[21] He received his bachelor's degree and law degree from Columbia University and was known for defending Floyd Landis during his doping case.[22][23]

In 1986, Buttenwieser remarried Terry Ann Marek, who had a daughter before the marriage.[1]

Buttenwieser died on February 4, 2018, of acute myeloid leukemia at his home outside Philadelphia.[1]