John M. Schiff
| John Mortimer Schiff | |
|---|---|
 Schiff circa 1913 at the Piping Rock Club | |
| Born |
John Mortimer Schiff August 26, 1904 Roslyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died |
May 9, 1987 Oyster Bay, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education |
Yale University Oxford University |
| Occupation | Banker |
| Employer |
Kuhn, Loeb & Co., partner Boy Scouts of America , national president (1951 - 1956) |
Board member of | World Scout Committee |
| Spouse(s) | Edith Brevoort Baker |
| Children | David T. and Peter G. Schiff |
| Parents | Mortimer Loeb Schiff |
| Relatives |
Jacob H. Schiff, grandfather George Fisher Baker, grandfather-in-law |
| Awards | Breeder of 1970 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt Hoist the Flag |
| Honors | Bronze Wolf, namesake of John M. Schiff Scout Reservation |
John Mortimer Schiff (August 26, 1904 - May 9, 1987) was a partner in the firm Kuhn, Loeb & Co., as well as a trustee of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, championship breeder/owner of thoroughbred racehorses and the national president of the Boy Scouts of America from 1951 to 1956.
Biography
Born into a Jewish-German banker family in New York, as son of Mortimer Loeb Schiff and grandson of Jacob H. Schiff, Schiff graduated from Yale University in 1925, where he was assistant business manager of campus humor magazine The Yale Record.[1]
After a year at Oxford University in England, he learned the banking business as an employee with Bankers Trust. For a time, Schiff worked on the Missouri Pacific Railroad.
Following the 1931 death of his father, he became a partner in the investment banking firm Kuhn, Loeb & Co.
John Schiff married Edith Brevoort Baker, granddaughter of George Fisher Baker who was called "the richest, most powerful and most taciturn commercial banker in U. S. history" in a 1934 TIME magazine article.[2] They had two sons, David T. and Peter G. Schiff. After his first wife's death in 1975, he married Josephine Laimbeer Fell, the widow of John R. Fell, Jr., who had been a partner in Lehman Brothers.
From 1965 to 1976, Schiff served as a Trustee of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation then as Trustee Emeritus until his death in 1987.
In 1997, his grandson, Andrew Newman Schiff married former Vice-President Al Gore's daughter, Karenna Aitcheson Gore.
Scouting movement
Both John Schiff and his father were notable early Boy Scouts of America leaders. John Schiff served as national president of the Boy Scouts of America from 1951 to 1956. Schiff also served on the World Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1955 until 1961.
Schiff was awarded the Bronze Wolf, the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting, in 1961. The John M. Schiff Scout Reservation was named in his honor.
Thoroughbred horse racing
Schiff owned and bred thoroughbred racehorses. He was the breeder of the 1970 American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt Hoist the Flag and successfully raced a number of horses including Plugged Nickle and Droll Role. [citation needed]
References
- ↑ Synnott, Marcia Graham (2010). The Half-Opened Door. 2nd ed. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. p. 24.
- ↑ March 26, 1934 TIME magazine article Baker-Schiff
See also
| Boy Scouts of America | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Amory Houghton |
National president 1951–1956 |
Succeeded by Kenneth K. Bechtel |