Kheel Center
Ann Sunstein Kheel, who passed away on December 28, 2003, was the beloved wife of Theodore W. Kheel, a nationally prominent arbitrator and mediator. The Kheel Center is named after both of them. Mrs. Kheel was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Cornell University, Class of 1936.
Mrs. Kheel was a journalist and government information specialist who was influential in civic and charitable affairs in New York. She was chairwoman of the State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commission for the City of New York between 1977-86. She also served the New York Urban League as the secretary of its Board for twenty-five years, beginning in the mid-1960’s and was the founder of its annual Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner (which raised millions of dollars over the twenty-five years she ran it and is still an annual event). Over the years, she served as a trustee of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture as well as the Rainforest Alliance and in various capacities, on panels and boards of a number of charitable and local governmental boards. She also served on the Advisory Board of the Catherwood Library, the parent institution of the Kheel Center.
In addition to her husband, Mrs. Kheel is survived by five daughters, Ellen K. Jacobs, Constance E. Kheel, Dr. Marti Kheel, Jane K . Stanley, and Katherine K. Fleischman; her son, Robert J.; eleven grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
Mrs. Kheel was a kind and generous individual who took great pride in her University and this Center. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her.