Ross Bleckner was born in New York City and raised in Hewlett, NY, a Long Island suburb. Mr. Bleckner received a Bachelor of Arts from New York University in 1971, a Master of Fine Arts from Cal Arts in 1973, and has taught at many of the nation's most prestigious universities. The Solomon R. Guggenheim of Art had a major retrospective of his works in 1995, summarizing two decades of solo shows at internationally acclaimed exhibition venues such as SFMoMA, Contemporary Arts Museum, Stockholm Moderna Museet, and the Carnegie Museum of Art. Works by Mr. Bleckner are also held in esteemed public collections throughout the globe, including MoMA, MoCA, Astrup Fearnley, Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.   Not only has Mr. Bleckner had a profound impact of shaping the New York art world, his philanthropic efforts have enabled many community organizations to perform their vital work. Currently, Mr. Bleckner is president of Community Research Initiative on AIDS (CRIA), a non-profit community-based AIDS research and treatment education center. Mr. Bleckner lives in New York City.