Irving B. Harris (August 4, 1910 – September 25, 2004) was an American businessman and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. With his brother Neison, he co-founded the Toni Home Permanent Company, which was sold to the Gillette Safety Razor Co. in January 1948 for $12.6 million. The original Toni manufacturing facility was located in a former schoolhouse near Forest Lake, Minnesota.

Early life

Born and raised in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

, Harris did much of his charitable work in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, but he also donated substantially to the arts in Aspen, Colorado. Harris contributed most of his money to programs for children and the arts such as the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance. He attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

in 1931.

Philanthropy

In 1986, Harris gave a donation that established The Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies at The

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. Mr. Harris gave the lead gift in 1954 to create public television station

WTTW WTTW (channel 11) is a PBS member television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by not-for-profit broadcaster Window to the World Communications, Inc., it is sister to commercial classical music radio station WFMT (98.7 FM). The ...

in Chicago - he later served as the station's Chairman of the Board. His philanthropy created several non-profits in Chicago - Family Focus (with

Bernice Weissbourd Bernice may refer to: Places In the United States * Bernice, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Bernice, Louisiana, a town * Bernice, Nevada, a ghost town * Bernice, Oklahoma, a town * Bernice Coalfield, a coalfield in Sullivan County, Pennsy ...

) and the Ounce of Prevention Fund are "children" of Irving Harris, as is

Erikson Institute Erikson Institute is a graduate school in child development in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It is named for the noted psychoanalyst and developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson. History and mission The Institute was founded in 1966 by four chil ...

, the graduate school in child development he helped found in 1966.

Personal life

Harris published a book, ''Children in Jeopardy,'' in 1996. Harris had a wife named Joan; two daughters, Roxanne Harris Frank and Virginia Harris Polsky, as well as a son, William Harris. Harris is also the grandfather of noted

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

restaurateur Danny Meyer, son of Roxanne Harris Frank.

References

External links

The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Web site

Erikson Institute Web site

Irving Harris Bio

WHI Family Office Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Irving 1910 births 2004 deaths Businesspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota Yale University alumni 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American businesspeople

Early life

Philanthropy

Personal life

See also

References

External links