The Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust provides support for innovative scientists researching cancer and for exceptional non-profit organizations striving to improve the quality of life for children and for people with cancer residing in the District of Columbia.
The Trust is committed to:
Alexander Stewart was born in New Brunswick, Canada in 1829 and moved to Wausau, WI in 1849. He was an intelligent and enterprising young man.
Alexander Stewart married Margaret Gray, with whom he had three children: Margaret, Mary, and Helen.
An employee of the Levi Fleming sawmill, Mr. Stewart was paid in lumber, which he then sold. In 1872, he acquired the Walter McIndoe Mill and formed the A. Stewart Lumber Company. It became the Wisconsin Valley’s largest mill.
Alexander Stewart served three terms in the U.S. Congress from 1895-1901. After serving, the Stewarts settled in Washington, DC and built a house on Massachusetts Avenue which now is the Luxembourg Embassy.
The Trust awarded its first grants in 1948.
Today, Alexander & Margaret Stewart Trust sustains the Stewart family’s legacy by continuing to achieve the Trust’s charitable goals, as expressed in the wills of the Stewart sisters. Since its inception in 1948, the Trust has issued approximately $125M in grants (in 2019 dollars).
Mr. Bierbower has served as a Stewart Trustee since 1994. A native Washingtonian, he is an attorney and previously served as Chief Counsel at two federal research agencies.
Mr. Hamilton has served as a Stewart trustee since 2004. A native Washingtonian, he has more than 30 years of non-profit leadership experience, including co-founding and leading the Institute for Sustainable Communities, which focuses on U.S. and communities’ environmental health and social/economic wellbeing.
Ms. Munson, a Managing Director of Rockefeller Capital Management and a member of its Management Committee, represents Rockefeller Trust Company, N.A. in its role as directed corporate trustee of the Trust since 2013. Prior to joining Rockefeller, Ms. Munson was a partner in White & Case’s Private Clients Group.
Dr. Newman provides medical and strategic insights for implementation of Trust programs. He previously served for 12 years as President and C.E.O. of Children’s National Hospital, which he joined as a surgical fellow in 1984 – following a general surgery residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School – and later rising to the Hospital’s Surgeon-in-Chief. A recent biography of Dr. Newman can be found here.
Ms. Rucker has more than 25 years of experience in the Nation’s Capital in the fields of grants management, organizational development, and nonprofit leadership including leadership positions with the United Way of the National Capital Area and the DC Trust. Ms. Rucker is a long-time resident of the District.
