Bob Iger
Honoree, Bank Street Celebration 2022
Robert (Bob) A. Iger will be honored at this year’s Bank Street Celebration: The World As Our Classroom for his philanthropic leadership and commitment to education. The event will feature a cocktail reception at the School for Children on June 7, dinner parties hosted by Bank Street trustees, and a virtual event featuring Bob as an honoree for the wider community—all in recognition of the success of Bank Street’s community of teachers, students, families, and supporters.
As the former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, president of ABC Television, and COO of Capital Cities/ABC, Bob has had a huge impact on entertainment for children. While he left Disney in 2021, his accomplishments there have included expanding the company’s intellectual properties to include Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and parts of 21st Century Fox. He opened new theme parks in Hong Kong and Shanghai, launched Disney+ and Hulu, and inspired Walt Disney Animation Studios to create new signature content for children.
Bob has been a champion of his family’s involvement at Bank Street and he has supported the institution’s mission to improve education and work towards inclusive, impactful education for all students and teachers. Bob’s connections to Bank Street are also personal: his children attended the School for Children and his grandchildren are current students.
Shael Polakow-Suransky, President of Bank Street College of Education, said, “We are grateful to have Bob Iger’s support of progressive education and as an enthusiastic School for Children grandparent who appreciates the values Bank Street instills in a nurturing learning environment.”
According to Bob’s daughters, Katie and Amanda Iger, who both attended the School for Children, their father has shared the sensibilities of Bank Street’s founding principles throughout his own professional life, including the tenets of Bank Street’s credo, written by Bank Street founder Lucy Sprague Mitchell over 100 years ago.
Before the family moved to California, Bob’s eldest daughter, Katie, attended the School for Children from 1984 to 1989. She remembers that her dad made attending school events a priority. She said, “Our dad was a very active parent through our childhoods and our years at Bank Street. He’s always been very hands-on. Obviously, his job became more demanding as we got older, but he also came to the school potluck dinners and assemblies when he could.”
His youngest daughter, Amanda, who also attended from 1987 to 1989, said, “Bank Street’s values are very much in line with our parents’ values: kindness and being good to your peers, appreciating what’s in your community, and giving back. Bank Street also taught us to respect others, to be open, and to reserve judgment. Our parents believe in these values, too.”
Serendipitously, both Katie and Amanda later met and married Bank Street graduates. Katie is married to Keith Andre, SFC ’91 and GSE ’20, and Amanda married James Berland, SFC ’96. Bob’s four grandchildren currently attend the School for Children, and he will often stop by Bank Street to pick up his grandchildren at the end of the day.
Katie said, “Our dad has always been interested in our educational steps and our kids’, too. He has come to basketball and volleyball games. He also came to speak as a grandpa twice. I think he loves being a part of Bank Street, as we all do. There is a sense of empathy Bank Street instills in kids in an organic way. At the heart of it, it’s about being a kind and decent person, and that warmth is just not the same at other schools. I know Dad just loves the feeling of family that Bank Street provides, and we are also thrilled to have our kids at this place that is like family.”
Bob’s departure from Disney marks the end of an era that spanned Katie’s and Amanda’s childhood, and his daughters are happy to see him have more time to spend with their families in New York.
Amanda said, “It’s been such an amazing ride, and we’re so proud of our dad. Disney was also a lovely family to be a part of, but it will be nice to see him have more freedom to be where he wants and to see his grandkids more often.”
Bank Street is looking forward to Bob’s presence in the halls of the School for Children and in support of his grandchildren’s education.