Philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad were given the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership at the annual meeting of The Philanthropy Roundtable on October 21st in Los Angeles. The prize includes $250,000 for the charity of the recipient’s choice; the Broads will give the funds to the High School for the Visual and Performing Arts in downtown L.A.

The Broads were honored for their extensive philanthropy in the areas of K-12 education reform, scientific and medical research, and the arts. The couple has invested over $3.5 billion in these areas in the past 50 years. Eli Broad said, “Edye and I are honored and humbled to receive this award and we are delighted to give the prize money to the arts high school, which combines academics with the arts to prepare the next generation of Los Angeles artists."

Eli Broad championed the creation of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s flagship citywide arts high school, the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art and a number of other cultural institutions. The Broad Art Foundation is a lending library of contemporary artworks that have been loaned over 8,000 times to nearly 500 museums and galleries around the globe. The Broads are currently building a contemporary art museum and headquarters for The Broad Art Foundation in Los Angeles; the Broad is slated to open in late 2014.