John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation - History

History

John D. MacArthur (1897–1978) owned Bankers Life and Casualty and other businesses, as well as considerable property in Florida and New York. His wife Catherine T. MacArthur (1908–1981) held positions in many of these companies. John MacArthur's attorney William T. Kirby, along with Paul Doolen, MacArthur's CFO, suggested that the MacArthurs create a foundation to be endowed by their vast fortune. The legal document that created the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation was two pages long and written by Kirby in plain language.

When John died on January 6, 1978, he was worth in excess of $1 billion and was reportedly one of the three richest men in the United States. MacArthur left 92 percent of his estate to begin the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The composition of the Foundation’s first Board of Directors, per John D. MacArthur’s will, also included Catherine, J. Roderick MacArthur (a son from John D. MacArthur’s first marriage), two other officers of Bankers Life and Casualty, and radio commentator Paul Harvey.

Doolen was the first board chair of the Foundation, serving from 1979-1984. John Corbally was the first president of the Foundation, who served from 1979-1989. Adele Simmons was the second president of the Foundation, serving from 1989 to 1999. Jonathan F. Fanton, formerly President of the New School for Social Research, served as MacArthur's president from 1999 to 2009. On July 1, 2009, Robert L. Gallucci, formerly dean of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, began as the Foundation's fourth president. In addition to their headquarters in Chicago, they also maintain offices in Mexico, India, Nigeria, and Russia.