Mathias J. DeVito (August 23, 1930 – July 24, 2019) was an American businessperson and lawyer. He served as the president and chief executive officer of

The Rouse Company The Rouse Company was a publicly traded shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when GGP Inc., General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. It was founded by Hunter Moss and James Rouse, James W. Rouse in 1939. Begin ...

. DeVito was previously a Maryland assistant attorney general and partner at Piper and Marbury law firm.

Early life and education

DeVito was born on August 23, 1930, in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

, to Margaret and Charles DeVito. His father was a paperhanger. DeVito graduated from Trenton Central High School in 1948. He attended

Rider College Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, United States. It consists of three academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which includes Westminster Choir Coll ...

and completed a B.A. in English at

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

in 1954. He earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree with honors from

University of Maryland School of Law The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law (formerly University of Maryland School of Law from 1924 to 2011) is the law school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is located in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1816, it i ...

in 1956. DeVito was an editor of the ''Maryland Law Review'' and a member of the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif () is an American honor society for law school graduates. The Order was founded in 1902 at the University of Illinois College of Law. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of trial lawyers, the serjeants-at-la ...

. He became a member of the Maryland State Bar Association in 1956.

Career

After law school, DeVito was a clerk for Judge Morris Ames Soper. In 1957, he was joined the Piper and Marbury law firm where he became partner. On June 26, 1963, the attorney general Thomas B. Finan appointed DeVito as an assistant attorney general, stating that DeVito would serve as counsel for the and the Maryland State Department of Education.

The Rouse Company

DeVito was part of the Piper legal team assisting

to purchase farmland that would later become

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...

. In 1968, DeVito joined

as general counsel. He became executive vice president and chief operating officer in January 1970. As the executive vice president, DeVito oversaw the operations of the Rouse Company. He became president of Rouse Company in 1973. From 1972 to 1975, DeVito decreased the Rouse Company’s number of employees from 1,700 to 500. From 1975 to 1976, DeVito assisted with restructuring the Company. In 1979, he succeeded the founder,

James Rouse James Wilson Rouse (April 26, 1914 – April 9, 1996) was an American businessman and founder of The Rouse Company. Rouse was a pioneering American real estate developer, urban planner, civic activist, and later, free enterprise-based philanthr ...

as chief executive officer. During his time as the CEO, DeVito changed the Rouse Company from being an "entrepreneurial developer" to one of the largest U.S. commercial property owners. DeVito worked behind the scenes while James Rouse was the face of projects including the

Harborplace Harborplace is a shopping and dining complex on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland. Description The property consists of two pavilions, each two stories in height; one along Pratt Street, the other on Light Street. The pavilions house a ...

and

Faneuil Hall Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall near the waterfront and Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts, Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches ...

. In 1984, DeVito became chairman of the Rouse Company. His calming style of management was noted by others in the Company. In 1987, DeVito halted the development of new projects. In December 1994, DeVito announced he would step down as CEO in February 1995. The Rouse Company's earnings increased under his leadership from $10.6 million in 1978 to $82.5 million in 1994. The company developed 77 shopping centers over the course of twenty years including

Quincy Market Quincy Market is a historic building next to Faneuil Hall in Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was constructed between 1824 and 1826 and named in honor of mayor Josiah Quincy III, Josiah Quincy, who organized its construction wi ...

, The Gallery at Market East, The Outlet Collection at Riverwalk, The Shops at National Place,

South Street Seaport The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, centered where Fulton Street meets the East River, within the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The Seaport is a designated historic district. It is p ...

, and

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. After DeVito retired from the Rouse Company in 1995, Baltimore Mayor,

Kurt Schmoke Kurt Lidell Schmoke (born December 1, 1949) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 47th mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, from 1987 to 1999, the first African American to be elected to the post. He is a former dean of the Howard University ...

, requested his assistance with an urban revitalization project spurred by a $100 million federal empowerment zone grant from the

Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...

Community involvement

From 1970 to 1972, DeVito was the chairman of the board of Trustees of the Maryland State College Board of Trustees. In late 1972, Governor Marvin Mandel announced that DeVito would lead a commission to study the structure of education in Maryland from kindergarten to college. In 1973, he was a member of the board of directors of

Howard Research and Development The Rouse Company was a publicly traded shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. It was founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939. Beginnings: Moss-Rouse Com ...

, Development Corp., and Rouse-Wates, Inc. He was a trustee of

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 ...

Allied Irish Banks Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is one of the so-called Big Four (banking)#Ireland, Big Four commercial banks in the Republic of Ireland. AIB offers a full range of personal, business and corporate banking services. The bank also offers a range of ge ...

, and

US Airways US Airways was a major airline in the United States. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it ...

. At

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a Private university, private art school, art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, it is regarded as one of ...

, DeVito endowed a scholarship. He was a member of the Greater Baltimore Committee (board chair from 1990 to 1992) where he co-chaired the initiative to bring a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

franchise to

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. He was a board chairman of Empower Baltimore Management Corporation, and served on the boards of the Business Committee for the Arts, The Enterprise Foundation,

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, ...

, and

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...

. He was on the board of

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers ...

Personal life

DeVito was a resident of

Ruxton, Maryland Ruxton and Riderwood are unincorporated communities in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. They are sometimes considered a part of Towson and are part of Towson's census area. The boundaries of Ruxton have been established largely by l ...

. He spent summers hiking at the

Adirondack Mountains The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the highest point in Ne ...

. He was a reader. DeVito was married to Rosetta Kormuth, a former legal assistant. They had a son and daughter. He died on July 24, 2019, of kidney failure at the

Greater Baltimore Medical Center Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) is a U.S. hospital located in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland. It was opened in 1965. GBMC serves more than 20,455 inpatient cases and approximately 52,000 emergency department visits annually. G ...

. He was survived by his wife, children, and four grandchildren.

Honors

In April 1987, the

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and str ...

recognized DeVito as Maryland's Minority Advocate of the Year. In 1989, DeVito was named "CEO of the Decade" in the real estate industry by ''

Financial World ''Financial World'' was an American magazine for investors that operated from 1902 to 1998. The magazine was known for its annual "Bronze Award" given to companies for the quality of their annual shareholders reports and, later, that year's top ...

''. In March 1995, ''Financial World'' selected him as CEO of the year.

The Wall Street Transcript ''The Wall Street Transcript'' is a paid subscription publication and Web site that publishes bi-weekly industry reports that feature equity analyst, money manager and CEO interviews. Reports typically cover two to three industries and express ...

named DeVito the top CEO in the real estate industry in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1988. On April 17, 1996, DeVito received a distinguished graduate award from University of Maryland School of Law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeVito, Mathias J. 1930 births 2019 deaths University of Maryland, College Park alumni University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American lawyers Businesspeople from Trenton, New Jersey American chief executives American chief operating officers American people of Italian descent Businesspeople from Maryland Deaths from kidney failure in the United States Maryland lawyers Trenton Central High School alumni Chief executive officers in the real estate industry American businesspeople in real estate