ABRAHAM KRASNOFF

Retired Chairman of the Board,
The Pall Corporation

BY MAUREEN TRAXLER

Abraham "Abe" Krasnoff has spent the past 50 years contributing to Long Island business and economic growth, supporting worthy social and cultural causes, founding philanthropic ventures, and inspiring an entire generation of wealthy and not-so-wealthy Long Islanders to follow in his footsteps.

Krasnoff's openness to people guided his professional and philanthropic paths. Following World War II, he met David Pall while both were having homes built in Little Neck. Pall asked Krasnoff, a newly licensed CPA, to join his company, Micro Metallic Corporation, which marketed a porous stainless steel industrial filter. Moving up, Krasnoff was elected President and CEO in 1969, and over the next 20 years the Pall Corporation grew into an international business leader. After leaving the CEO position, he served a three-year term as chairman, and retired in 1992.

Although Krasnoff is recognized for his breath of vision and marketing expertise, he acknowledges Pall's brilliance as scientist and inventor, and has said, "If I have a proud aspect to my role, it's in letting a genius work freely." When he accepted the job in 1951, the $250,000 business had one product and 20 employees; today Pall Corporation is a $1.1-billion business, employing 11,000 people with offices and plants in more than 30 countries and providing cutting edge products for use in high-growth applications for the transfusion medicine, semiconductor, water and aerospace industries.

In 1953, Krasnoff moved his family to Glen Cove, and just as meeting Pall ignited his career, meeting neighbors and the local mayor started his journey in community service. He began volunteering his time with the Economic Opportunity Council's Lincoln House, a model of the late 19th-century settlement houses. Lincoln House later converted into the Boy's and Girl's Club of Glen Cove. Krasnoff was also a member of his Neighborhood Association and planning board, and answered the call to become a member and officer of Glen Cove Community Hospital's board of trustees.

"Before long, one-third of my time was spent on such projects," says Krasnoff, adding, "I didn't get out to play golf much."

When North Shore Hospital began to expand, Glen Cove Community Hospital became its first acquisition, putting Krasnoff in position as a vital player in the future merger of North Shore and Long Island Jewish Medical Center. While on the North Shore board, he, along with hospital president Ralph Nappi, negotiated terms with LIJ. Now a retired life trustee, Krasnoff served for 30 years on the board of North Shore Hospital.

A graduate of New York University's School of Commerce and Graduate School of Business Administration, Krasnoff served on the Board of Overseers of the Stern School of Business for more than 10 years, working with international business organizations. In 1979, he joined the board of trustees of Long Island University, and served as chairman of the Special Committee during the University's reorganization. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from C.W. Post in 1985. In the early 1980s, Krasnoff was a founding member of the American Business Conference, the voice of the mid-sized, high growth sector of the economy. The Conference, based in Washington, D.C., advocates public policy to promote growth, entrepreneurship and a higher standard of living for all Americans.

While serving as a governor of the American Stock Exchange, Krasnoff recalls attending a fundraiser for the refurbishing of the Library of Congress. He and his wife were seated with Dr. James Billington, the librarian of Congress, and again, he responded to a request for support and became a founding member of the James Madison Council, the first private support organization for the Library of Congress.

"Our goal was to bring the Library of Congress's treasures out to the country at large," says Krasnoff. "It was great fun." The Council also established the James Billington Fund, awarding the curator research grants that provided for the collection of materials on civil war history, the works of great musicians, and more.

Krasnoff remarks how chance meetings often brought his attention to worthy causes. On one occasion several years ago, he was delivering a speech at Hofstra University and philanthropist Gerard Leeds happened to be in the audience. At the conclusion of the program, Leeds asked him to join the board of directors of the Institute for Student Achievement, an organization Leeds founded with his wife Lilo. ISA creates small learning communities in high schools, providing opportunities for underserved and underperforming students to achieve success. Krasnoff is currently a Director Emeritus.

Krasnoff has served as a close advisory to presidents and executive directors of nonprofit organizations, among them, Planned Parenthood of Nassau County, where he helped the organization become accepted in the community. Although he quips, "Working on boards can get you into trouble right away," he encourages people to join nonprofit boards if they "believe in the mission of the organization and are committed to advancing that mission." He believes, too, that board members should be able to support their organizations monetarily.

Currently, Krasnoff serves as chairman of the board of the Long Island Community Foundation, where he has established his own fund. He feels the Foundation staff is invaluable, saying, "They know the needs of the grassroots organizations on Long Island." Through the Foundation, he has also supported ERACE Racism.

Krasnoff says his "family took his community service pretty well," and even in retirement, he's still "not playing golf," instead leaving the sport to his son. Krasnoff lives in Glen Cove with his wife Julienne, a fine craftsman in hand weaving who has written four books on handcrafting.

Longtime friend Dr. David Salten, retired chair, Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, says of Krasnoff, he is "a model of truly generous, informed, financially responsible philanthropy" and "the most genuinely modest man I have ever encountered."