Kent Karosen

Kent L. Karosen was an American businessman, author and philanthropist who served on the board of several charitable organizations. He was the President and CEO of the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation, a nonprofit health organization.

For many years he had been a managing director and Partner at Cantor Fitzgerald, a Wall Street firm.[1] The company's offices, located on floors 101 to 105 of 1 World Trade Center, were destroyed by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, killing 658 of the company's 960 New York employees.[2][3]

On October 1, 2001, Karosen organized a memorial service in New York's Central Park for over 4,000 family members and friends of those killed.[4] Until his death, he continued to put together an annual celebration of life event for the families of Cantor Fitzgerald's victims on the anniversary of the attacks.

In the fall of 2016, Karosen wrote, with children's book author Chana Stiefel, "Why Can't Grandma Remember My Name?", which juxtaposes paintings and drawings created by children with those created by Alzheimer's patients.[5][6][7][8] It tackles a child's questions such as "How can I have fun with Grandma?" and "Will Grandma get worse?" and offers advice for families coping with the illness, with royalties benefiting the foundation.[9]

Karosen was on the Board of Trustees of the Intrepid Sea, Air, & Space Museum Foundation[10] and was the chairman of its investment committee. He served on the board of directors of Temple Emanu-El Synagogue in Miami Beach, Florida.[11]

Kent died at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida on Thursday, December 6, 2018, at the age of 53. Kent was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Mary Vivian and Leon Karosen, who lived in Mission Hills, Kansas. His father, Leon, was an owner of the Kansas City Kings, the National Basketball Association team, and Youthcraft Coats and Suits, Inc.

After graduating from Kenyon College with a Bachelor of Arts in History and extensive study in economics, Kent went on to become a commercial real estate developer in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1991, Kent joined Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., the Manhattan securities firm. He was a partner and managing director and worked closely with the chairman in resolving numerous special situations by utilizing his long-standing expertise in a myriad of business arenas. Before working in the office of the chairman, Kent was instrumental in the development and success of the Securities Lending Desk at Cantor Fitzgerald. In 1992, he founded the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum's "Museum Society" where he created the Salute to Freedom Award and dinner, a tradition that has raised over $20 million for the museum. The award has honored leaders such as presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton; Prime Ministers Thatcher and Rabin and Secretaries Cohen and Powell.

Kent's skills and efforts proved critical to Cantor Fitzgerald's recovery after the September 11 attacks destroyed the firm's headquarters in the World Trade Center. The day after the tragedy, he organized and managed the Crisis Center to aid the 658 families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks and continued to organize Cantor's annual memorial service in honor of his fallen colleagues. In May 2001, Kent was named an Honorary Commodore in the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary for the 1st Southern Region. Additionally, he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Michael Stern Parkinson's Foundation and served as the Chairman of its Investment Committee. Not one to miss an opportunity to do the right thing, Kent headed the team to secure temporary headquarters for Cantor Fitzgerald and directed the search for their permanent headquarters. He was instrumental in the lease negations for Cantor Fitzgerald's 190,000 sq. ft. new headquarters as well as Cantor's public incentives to rebuild in New York City. Concurrently, Kent was a principal in securing for Cantor Fitzgerald and other firms directly affected by the 9/11 attacks over $30 million in federal, state and city aid to rebuild.

In 2006, Honorable Scott Stringer appointed Kent as his representative to the Times Square Alliance board. Kent was also a board member for the New York City Fund for Public Advocacy, Midwest Chapter of the Leukemia Society, United States Coast Guard Foundation and the Wilbraham Monson Academy. He later joined the boards of the Intrepid Foundation and the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation where he had served as the foundation's President and CEO since 2009.

In 2008, he married the love of his life, Brian Byrl Hauserman, in Provincetown, Massachusetts and again in a religious ceremony in New York City, NY. Mr. Hauserman was a residential broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman in Manhattan. Together, they managed the business consulting firm, Karosen Strategic Partners, LLC where Kent served as President. They relocated to Miami Beach, Florida where Kent became enthusiastically active in the Jewish community. He served on the board of directors for the Temple Emanu-El Synagogue. Kent was a force to be reckoned with and he lived his life on his own terms to the fullest.

He was very generous and saw the potential in others. He strategically figured out various ways to connect the dots and expand his influence to raise money and awareness for worthy causes. His feisty spirit will be missed by all who knew him. Surviving Kent is his husband Brian Hauserman, sister Valerie K. Gaines, two puppies Mazel and Tova, and scores of dear friends whom he loved like family. Brian Hauserman died on September 16th, 2019.