Ira Gershwin Drama for "Of Thee I Sing". In 1988 UCLA established The George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Musical Achievement Award in recognition of the brothers' contribution to music, and for their gift to UCLA of the fight song "Strike Up the Band for UCLA". Recipients include Angela Lansbury (1988), Ray Charles (1991), Mel Tormé (1994), Bernadette Peters (1995), Frank Sinatra (2000), Stevie Wonder (2002), k.d. lang (2003), James Taylor (2004), Babyface (2005), Burt Bacharach (2006), Quincy Jones (2007), Lionel Richie (2008) and Julie Andrews (2009). Ira Gershwin was a joyous listener to the sounds of the modern world. "He had a
Ira Cook Ira Cook Ira Cook (October 6, 1821 - March 11, 1902) was an American surveyor, mayor, banker, tax collector, city council member, investor and entrepreneur from Des Moines, Iowa. Ira Cook was born October 6, 1821 in the Town of Union, Broome County, New York. His father, one sister and her husband moved to Iowa in 1835 and settled on land in what is now Davenport. Ira and the remainder of his family moved to Iowa in the spring of 1836. He lived in Tipton, Iowa from 1838-1941, working on the family farm and having the chance to meet then