Arthur J. Samberg spent over 40 years in the financial industry in New York. Before beginning his securities career at Kidder Peabody in 1967, Art Samberg spent several years at Lockheed Missile and Space Company in Mountain View, California, designing components of the Agena missile system.

The Agena satellite launch system, initiated by the United States Air Force in 1955 as the Weapons System 117L program, made its first successful launch in February 1959, when it put the Discoverer 1 satellite into orbit. Powered by Bell rocket engines capable of delivering up to 15,500 pounds of thrust, Agena missiles launched many of the United States government’s reconnaissance and early-warning satellites in the 1960s and 1970s. Later versions, including the Agena D, had the ability to launch customized payloads. In 1966, NASA used the Agena D to launch docking target vehicles for its experiments in docking spacecraft.

In total, the Air Force and NASA launched 365 Agena missiles into space. The last of these was mounted on a Titan 34B booster and lifted off on February 12, 1987, carrying SDS communications satellite #7 for the Air Force.

In 2002, Columbia Business School created the Arthur J. Samberg Institute for Teaching Excellence, thanks to a generous gift from hedge fund industry icon Art J. Samberg. Arthur Samberg once again gave the school an extraordinary donation of $25 million in 2006.

With a goal of promoting excellence in teaching at the school, the Arthur J. Samberg Institute for Teaching Excellence serves as a faculty resource. Junior, senior, and visiting faculty members attend the institute for such events as orientations and mentoring programs.

The mentoring program serves junior and more seasoned faculty members, as well as students. In a transference of expertise, junior faculty members partner with faculty mentors who provide guidance on teaching materials and on classroom management. By passing down the experience of senior faculty members, the institute creates a stronger program for future faculty members and for students at the Columbia Business School.

To maintain solid teaching techniques, the institute holds teaching workshops for all levels of faculty. Consultants and senior faculty members host roundtable meetings, coach less experienced faculty, and offer guidance for classroom performance.

Arthur J. Samberg established his first hedge fund in 1986 and continuously ran the fund until his 2009 retirement from Pequot Capital Management, Inc., a firm he established in 1999. In addition to his accomplished investment career, Art J. Samberg has provided generous support through large donations to a number of nonprofit and education initiatives. Arthur Samberg has also pursued such goals as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, which he accomplished in 2000.

At 19,340 feet, Mount Kilimanjaro looms higher than all of Africa’s peaks and ranks as the world’s tallest freestanding mountain. Located in Tanzania, Mount Kilimanjaro attracts more than 50,000 climbers every year. The mountain’s glaciated peak defies its location only 200 miles away from the equator.

The most climber-friendly route, called the Coca-Cola route, offers climbers sleeping huts and food and beverages. These amenities draw throngs of interested parties; however, the climb to the summit requires time and skill. The record for reaching the summit, eight and a half hours, in no way represents the normal six days most people take as they acclimate to the ascending altitude.

A climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, while not an Everest-like summit, still requires climbers to be physically fit. Routes up the mountain, in addition to the tourist-friendly Coca-Cola route, include scenic Machame and the longer Lemosho.