The Botwinick Prize

The 2025 Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics at Columbia Business School was bestowed upon Clara Wu Tsai, owner of the New York Liberty and Brooklyn Nets, for her incredible leadership and devotion to meaningful humanitarian causes. The co-captains of the Columbia Women's Basketball Team, Cecelia Collins, Kitty Henderson, and Perri Page, who clinched this year's Ivy League title, awarded the Prize and a personalized jersey to Clara alongside Bernstein Faculty Director Modupe Akinola. 

About The Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics

Each year, under the auspices of The Bernstein Center for Leadership and Ethics, The Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics is awarded to an individual or representative of a business organization exemplifying the highest standard of professional and ethical conduct, as well as ethical decision-making in any of the professions, including, but not limited to, accounting, advertising, architecture, health care, journalism, law, public service and social service. The Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics was established in 1989 by a generous endowment from the late Benjamin Botwinick, BS '26 and his wife, Bessie.

The Botwinick family also graciously sponsors the Benjamin Botwinick Scholarship, awarded to deserving students in the first and second year. Both the Prize and scholarships help reinforce the family's commitment to leadership and ethics at Columbia Business School.

For more information, please contact Traci Rosenthal at [email protected].

Past Recipients of the Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics

Full List of Past Recipients

About Benjamin Botwinick '26

The Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics was established by a generous endowment from the late Benjamin Botwinick (1907–2000) and his wife Bessie (1909–2002). Mr. Botwinick graduated from Columbia Business School in 1926 with a Bachelor of Science degree, and became a well-respected CPA at the Benjamin Botwinick & Co. firm. In 1957, Mr. Botwinick and Bessie established the Botwinick-Wolfensohn Foundation, Inc.—formerly the Bened Besel Foundation, Inc.— which supported initiatives focused on Israeli and Jewish welfare funds, medical research, and higher education. In addition to his esteemed career, Mr. Botwinick sat on the board of the American Technion Society and was a trustee of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and its foundation. After they retired to Florida, the Botwinicks were dedicated and devoted philanthropists who proudly founded the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged.

Benjamin and Bessie's family remain committed to Columbia Business School and the ideals espoused by the prestigious Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics.