Sybil Cohen
Here at Gerald and Sybil Cohen Family Foundation, we like to share the genesis of where our values came from.
We have provided an excerpt from one of our founders on her journey so far.
My Story
Gerald and I grew up in NYC.
We were both students who met as teenagers at Cejwin Camps where he was a waiter and I was a counselor-in-training.
We enjoyed traveling together, music, theatre, museums, reading, and exercise. Gerald was a graduate of Stuyvesant H.S., then City College (now CCNY), where he earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering at Columbia University.
I was a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, then Hunter College where I earned a B.S.Home Economics Education and a M.A.Nutrition Education, then later a M.S.Dietetics at Queens College.
We married while we were graduate students. I taught Foods and Nutrition, Clothing Construction, Child Care and Home Nursing in N.Y.C. Public Schools.
Gerald ventured into sales of ceramics and billboards in apartment buildings. When Gerald started working as a software developer at Mathematica in Princeton we moved from New York with our two young sons to New Jersey.
I became an active member of the League of Women Voters in Somerset New Jersey, involved in land use, environmental issues, and voter registration. As Vice President, I attended the state convention in Atlantic City where policy issues to lobby were selected.
I taught cooking and sewing classes in the local Junior High School and developed Adult education courses in healthful cooking.
We had two more sons and moved to a larger house in the same neighborhood. After Mathematica refused to give Gerald any profit shares from the software he had developed I encouraged him to develop a new software program which he called Focus.
This grew into Information Builders based in New York City. Gerald and I both enjoyed traveling with our family and to IBI national and worldwide events. We took great pleasure in watching our
sons develop into considerate, conscientious, creative men.
We moved to Great Neck, an easy commute to New York, with good schools, a library, community facilities, and congenial neighbors.
Once again I joined the League of Women Voters where I was elected President and served as delegate to the National convention in Atlanta.
At Queens College, I earned a second Master’s degree in Dietetics. Then I worked as a Public Relations Consultant and educator at the Cornell Cooperative Center and Chase Bank.
As an Adjunct Professor at Adelphi University I taught Nutrition to Nursing students.
For many years I worked for the Nassau County Department of Health as a Dietitian in the WIC program which provides nutrition information and food assistance to pregnant women and young children.
After retiring I became a member of the retired professional group at CUNY called QUEST. The program requires members to present lectures and lead discussions on topics of interest. I have been a volunteer at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center for the last 25 years
As an avid reader I have belonged to several book discussion groups wherever I am.
GERALD COHEN Obituary (edited)
Gerald David. On Thursday, December 3, 2020. Gerald Cohen passed away at age 85. The founder and CEO, Gerald later served as Chairman of the Board of Information Builders, Inc. (ibi), once the largest privately held software company in New York City.
Gerald was raised on the Upper West Side of New York City, Gerald earned a B.A. in Mechanical Engineering from CCNY and an MA in Engineering from Columbia University. After marrying Sybil Cohen, he began developing Ramis software, often cited as the world's first fourth-generation language (4GL) at Mathematica in 1965. Sales of Ramis were brisk because it was the first 4GL product to be sold by a company other than IBM. Cohen conceived new ideas of selling software directly to large corporations and left Mathematica to found ibi with Peter Mittelman (also a Ramis developer) and Dr. Martin Slagowitz in 1975. Cohen devised FOCUS, a 4GL software product that allows computer users with little training to manipulate data using standard English. Originally used through timesharing (think Cloud services in the 1980s), the revenue stream enabled ibi to fund development of FOCUS for other systems beyond the mainframe.
By the end of 1987, ibi was among the three largest privately-held software companies in the United States. A lifelong believer in learning, Cohen graduated in 1991 with a Master of Arts degree from St. John's College in New Mexico. He also received numerous patents for his technologies, including Active Reports. Another innovation conceived by Cohen was EDA (later iWay), a data access tool released the same year. iWay integrated any database and application files, and application programs, in multiple operating environments. FOCUS for Windows debuted in 1994. Later that year, he married Pamela Zimmerman (who predeceased him on June 27, 2020). The company introduced WebFOCUS in 1996, a powerful tool to display reports on the Internet. Gerald segued from CEO to Chairman of the Board of ibi in 2019. Earlier this year, after ibi agreed to be acquired by TIBCO Software Inc., a global leader in enterprise data, Gerald announced his retirement. Gerald also served as Chairman of the New York Software Industry Association.
He taught at NYU and supported the NYU Langone Medical Center. He enjoyed bicycling, paddle boarding and tennis. He and Pamela loved film and were avid Eric Clapton concert-goers, along with seeing more Grateful Dead shows.
Published by New York Times on Dec. 10, 2020.
-- Our Founders, Gerald Cohen and Sybil Cohen, present at the Fuse Conference dinner
