Walter Shorenstein

Walter H. Shorenstein (February 15, 1915 – June 24, 2010)Dennis McLellan (June 26, 2010)

''Los Angeles Times''. was an American billionaire real estate developer and investor. His company, Shorenstein Properties, owned 130 buildings totaling at least of office space at the time of his death.

Early life

Shorenstein was born to a Jewish family in 1915 in Glen Cove, New York, son of a clothier. His uncle, Hyman Schorenstein, was a political "kingmaker" in New York during the early 20th century, and ancestor to a number of New York politicians. In 1934, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1941, he enlisted in the United States Air Force.

Career

Upon his discharge from the Air Force, Shorenstein moved to San Francisco with savings of $1,000. He worked as a commercial real estate broker, becoming a partner at Milton Meyer and Co., a firm he bought in 1960 upon its founder's death and renamed after himself. He and others attributed his success in business to "street smarts".

In 1993, Shorenstein helped an investor group purchase the San Francisco Giants baseball team thus preventing the franchise from moving to Florida.

Philanthropy and political activities

Shorenstein became active politically and was a significant fundraiser for the Democratic Party. He was a major donor to civic and charitable causes, as well as higher education. He was prominent in the Jewish-American political and philanthropic community. In honor of his daughter who died of cancer in 1985, Shorenstein founded the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy—renamed the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy in 2014—at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He also endowed the Walter H. Shorenstein Forum for Asia Pacific Studies at Stanford University. In 1993, he and Mikhail Gorbachev established the Gorbachev Foundation in San Francisco. In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed him as a member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a position he filled until 2007.

Family

In 1945, Shorenstein married Phyllis Finley of Wellington, Kansas. She met her husband while working as a volunteer ambulance driver at Travis Air Force Base, where Shorenstein was stationed during World War II.Kathleen Teltsch (June 24, 1994)
"Phyllis Shorenstein, 76, Patron Of Asian Arts in San Francisco"
''The New York Times''. Phyllis converted to Judaism. Mrs. Shorenstein had a heart ailment and died in 1994 at the age 76 in San Francisco. They had three children:
*Joan Shorenstein (born 1947), his eldest daughter, a producer for the CBS Evening News and ''Face The Nation'', died of cancer in 1985. She was married to journalist Michael Barone.
*Carole Shorenstein Hays (born 1948), a Broadway producer with whom he established three major theaters in San Francisco: the Orpheum, the Curran and the Golden Gate.
* Douglas W. Shorenstein (born 1955) was chairman and chief executive of Shorenstein Properties. In 2010, he was appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Board of Directors. He died of cancer in 2015."Douglas W. Shorenstein Designated Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Board of Directors; Patricia E. Yarrington Designated Deputy Chair for 2011"
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. July 23, 2010.

Awards and honors

*1991: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
*1997: University of Southern California’s Real Estate Hall of Fame
*1997: Democratic National Committee’s Lifetime Achievement Award
*1998: Bay Area Council’s Business Hall of Fame
*2013: Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) establishes the Walter Shorenstein Fellowship in Media and Democracy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shorenstein, Walter
1915 births
2010 deaths
American billionaires
American businesspeople in real estate
Philanthropists from New York (state)
20th-century American Jews
People from Glen Cove, New York
Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area
American landlords
Shorenstein family
20th-century American philanthropists
21st-century American Jews
Members of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II