Ira David Wallach (June 3, 1909 – January 6, 2007) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was head of

Central National-Gottesman Central National-Gottesman Inc. (CNG) is one of the world's largest distributors of pulp, paper, packaging, nonwovens & fibers, tissue, metals and wood products. The company employs over 3,000 staff in more than 150 locations in 48 cities across ...

, the largest privately held marketer of paper and pulp products.

Life and career

Born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in New York City, he earned his B.A. and law degrees from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He served as a

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

lieutenant in World War II. In 1938, he married Miriam Gottesman Wallach, the daughter of D.S. Gottesman.''The New York Times'': "Miriam G. Wallach Obituary"
October 2, 2012 they had four children: James Wallach, Kenneth L. Wallach, Sue Wallach Wachenheim, and Kate Wallach Cassidy. He joined Gottesman & Company as Executive Vice President in 1946. He served as CEO from 1956 to 1979. During his tenure, the company grew to become the world's largest private marketer of

wood pulp Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibers from wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemical or plant-based additives, pulp is the major raw mate ...

, paper and

newsprint Newsprint is a low-cost, non-archival paper consisting mainly of wood pulp and most commonly used to print newspapers and other publications and advertising material. Invented in 1844 by Charles Fenerty of Nova Scotia, Canada, it usually has an ...

. He later served as chairman, then senior vice chairman until his death.

Activism and philanthropy

Ira David Wallach was born in New York City on June 3, 1909. He earned bachelor's and law degrees from Columbia University and was a Navy lieutenant in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1946 he joined Gottesman & Company, as it was then known, as executive vice president. He was the chief executive and a director of the company from 1956 to 1979, later serving as chairman and then senior vice chairman, the title he held at his death. During his tenure, the company, which is based in Purchase, N.Y., grew from a relatively small wood pulp distributor, into the world's preeminent privately owned marketer of pulp and paper, with offices in 26 U.S. cities, 17 countries and representatives in 40 international locations. Wallach was a man who refused accolades, and was much admired and adored by his company's employees. In 1980, Wallach co-founded the Institute for East West Security Studies, now known as the

EastWest Institute The EastWest Institute (EWI), originally known as the Institute for East-West Security Studies and officially the Institute for EastWest Studies, Inc., was an international not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank focusing on international confli ...

, a research group that focuses on international political, economic and security issues. In a career of more than 70 years, he was a lawyer and businessman with interests in philanthropy and in global economic and political affairs. With his wife Miriam, he created a charitable foundation whose beneficiaries included the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

, the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

and the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. He is the namesake of Columbia's

Wallach Hall Wallach Hall is the second oldest residence hall (or dormitory) on the campus of Columbia University, and currently houses undergraduate students from Columbia College as well as the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. It open ...

. Wallach was an outspoken opponent of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and many policies of the

Nixon administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 37th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Richard Nixon, his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974 ...

. He was named in a

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

memorandum listing Nixon's "political opponents", one step down from the notorious "enemies list" — people who were singled out for

tax audit In the United States of America, an income tax audit is the examination of a business or individual tax return by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or state tax authority. The IRS and various state revenue departments use the terms audit, exami ...

s and other problems.

References

External links

Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art GalleryEastWest Institute (video link)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wallach, Ira 1909 births 2007 deaths Wallach, Ira D. Wallach, Ira D. Jewish American philanthropists Columbia Law School alumni 20th-century American philanthropists Gottesman family Columbia College (New York) alumni 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews