Otto T. Bannard

Otto Tremont Bannard (April 28, 1854 – January 15, 1929) was an American attorney, banker, businessman and philanthropist who donated to Yale University, his alma mater. He stood for mayor of New York in 1909 but lost. He died at sea while on a cruise to the Philippines.

Early life Otto Tremont Bannard was born on April 28, 1854, in Brooklyn, New York. He was the youngest of five children born to John Winslow Bannard (1822–1911) and his wife Eliza Landon Stone (1821–1903). Among his siblings were Henry Clay Bannard, Hubbard Francis Bannard, Walter Clifton Bannard, and Estella Stone Bannard. John purchased a small flour mill there, but ten years later the mill burned, leaving the family nearly penniless. Via a series of mergers, it ultimately became Chemical Bank.

He ran, as a candidate for the mayor of New York City in 1909, in a three-man election that was won by William J. Gaynor. Bannard came in second, with William Randolph Hearst coming in third. His will left a bequest of about $2,000,000 to Yale University, in addition to the numerous gifts he had made during his lifetime.