The Steven and Beverly Rubenstein Charitable Foundation, Inc. has received the 2017 UVM Foundation Lifetime Achievement in Philanthropy Award. The University of Vermont Foundation and the UVM Alumni Association honored outstanding philanthropists and graduates on Friday, October 6, and Saturday, October 7, 2017 during Alumni Weekend at the UVM Alumni House in Burlington, Vermont.

Steve Rubenstein’s connection with the State of Vermont was sparked by spending ten summers at Camp Dunmore. His affinity to Vermont then led him to the University of Vermont to study horticulture. Thirty-five years later, Steve partnered with UVM and Senator Patrick Leahy in 1996 to establish the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory at the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain.

During this time, Steve became an active member of the School of Natural Resources board of advisors at UVM. In 2003, the Rubenstein family donated the largest single gift in UVM history at the time — a $15 million commitment to support environmental education and research. With this gift, the School of Natural Resources became the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, the first named school or college at UVM. With Steve’s passing in 2008, his wife Beverly and son Andy Rubenstein launched the Steven and Beverly Rubenstein Charitable Foundation, Inc. in order to continue Steve’s vision for UVM to be one of the premier environmental schools in the United States.