Eric John Abrahamson is an institutional historian and the 2006 Democratic candidate for the office of lieutenant governor in South Dakota. His running mate was
Jack Billion.
Professional and civic life
Abrahamson is the president of Vantage Point Historical Services, Inc. Vantage Point's clients include
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...
companies in financial services, telecommunications, and banking as well as leading philanthropic organizations.
Abrahamson received a Ph.D. in American history from
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
in 2003. His dissertation and coursework focused on the role of government in promoting innovation and economic growth in the development of cellular telephony. Abrahamson has written a number of books and articles, including ''Spirited Commitment: The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Foundation,'' which he co-authored with Roderick MacLeod (
McGill-Queens University Press, 2010) and ''Anytime, Anywhere: Entrepreneurship and the Creation of a Wireless World'', which he co-authored with
Louis Galambos
Louis Paul Galambos (born April 4, 1931) is an American historian known for his contributions to business history
Business history is a historiographical field which examines the history of firms, business methods, government regulation an ...
of Johns Hopkins University (
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
, 2002). His book ''Building Home: Howard F. Ahmanson and the Politics of the American Dream'' was published by the University of California Press in February 2013. He edited a six-volume series of books on the history of the Rockefeller Foundation, including his book ''Beyond Charity: A Century of Philanthropic Innovation,'' which was released by the Rockefeller Foundation in March 2013.
In 2010, Abrahamson cofounded the Black Hills Knowledge Network, an innovative library-based community news and information project. He serves on the board of the John T. Vucurevich Foundation, as well as the South Dakota Humanities Council. He has also been a member of the
Rapid City
Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed. It is the second-mo ...
Area Schools Board of Education, chairman of the South Dakota State Library Board, a member of the board of the Black Hills Area Community Foundation and a member of the Rapid City Library Board of Trustees.
Family
Eric is married to Lois Facer. They are the parents of two sons, Reed and Zachary.
Publications
Books
*''Anytime, anywhere : entrepreneurship and the creation of a wireless world'' by Louis Galambos; Eric John Abrahamson Cambridge, UK; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2002. ''held in 442 libraries''
*''Beyond Charity: A Century of Philanthropic Innovation'' by Eric John Abrahamson New York: Rockefeller Foundation, 2013. .
*''Building Home: Howard F. Ahmanson and the Politics of the American Dream'' by Eric John Abrahamson Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2013. .
*''Spirited Commitment: The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation'' by Roderick MacLeod and Eric John Abrahamson Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, 2010. .
References
Living people
School board members in South Dakota
South Dakota Democrats
Year of birth missing (living people)
{{SouthDakota-politician-stub