Ben Heineman Sr.

Heineman Sr., Ben W.

["Business and Civic Leader, Lyndon Johnson Advisor, Art Collector"]

Ben W. Heineman, Sr, a renowned national leader in law, business, government, education and arts, died at age 98 on August 5, 2012, He was revered as a giant of his generation---a brilliant lawyer, a far-sighted and innovative business leader, an advisor to presidents, governors and mayors, a prominent citizen of Chicago, a deeply committed supporter of opera and symphony, an influential trustee of the University of Chicago, and a world-class collector of sculptured glass. These and many other accomplishments reflected a person of extraordinary character, integrity, independence, wit and warmth, whose range of interests truly deserved the phrase "Renaissance man." He had great stature in his many communities as a wise and caring person---as a husband and father, as a friend and counselor and as a consummate professional and leader who always exhibited great concern for others and for the broader public interest. He was an exemplary citizen of his city, his state, and his country.

Ben was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, on February 10, 1914, six months before the start of World War I, the son of Walter Benjamin and Elsie Brunswick Heineman. Ben was educated in the Wausau public schools, and took great pride when he earned his pilot's license at 14 in a biplane. Ben attended the University of Michigan from 1930 to 1933 when he convinced the dean of Northwestern Law School to admit him early because of his desperate need to go to work (his family lost all its money during the crash of 1929). He graduated in 1936 at the top of his class and as the editor of the law review.

His legal career spanned the next 20 years. He was a leading corporate lawyer in Chicago, first at major law firms and then at his own firm (Swiren & Heineman). Some of his deepest friendships were with members of the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School (especially with then-Dean Edward Levi, who subsequently became President of the University and Attorney General of the United States). He served for many years on the law school's visiting committee and was part of a group of professors and practitioners that wrote the first version of the Uniform Commercial Code, one of the pillars of American law. During World War II, he served in Washington as assistant general counsel in the Office of Price Administration and then in North Africa with the State Department as legal advisor, assistant director of the North African Economic board and assistant to Robert Murphy (then ambassador to the Free French government). In 1951, Governor Adlai E. Stevenson appointed him special assistant attorney general to investigate Illinois' cigarette tax fraud. He then worked on the 1952 Stevenson Presidential campaign as a speech writer, participating in the drafting of the Stevenson speech sharply criticizing the methods of Senator Joseph McCarthy.

In 1956, he led a successful proxy fight on behalf of dissident shareholders to take over the Chicago and Northwestern Railway and became its chairman and CEO. He became known a dramatic innovator in a very traditional industry, modernizing operating methods, reshaping labor relations, turning Chicago's commuter rail service into an acclaimed success (and a model for the nation), seeking de-regulation and greater competition, and becoming one of the leading voices in American business. In 1968, he transformed the railway into a conglomerate, Northwest Industries, with industrial and consumer product components. In 1972, he sold the railroad to its employees many of whom, at all levels, enjoyed economic success from the sale. He retired as CEO of Northwest in 1985, at age 71, having demonstrated that, with strong leadership and management and an appropriate balance between central resource allocation and decentralized responsibility, the controversial conglomerate form of business enterprise could be successful.

During his 30 years as a prominent Democratic business leader, he also took on many governmental assignments. He served President Lyndon Johnson in numerous capacities: chairman, White House Conference on Civil Rights, "To Fulfill These Rights" (1966); chairman, President's Task Force Government Organization (1966-67); chairman, President's Commission on Income Maintenance Programs (1968), as well as a member of other government advisory groups assessing the burgeoning social and economic issues of the decade. A "Man in the News" article in The New York Times on his civil rights conference appointment called him "a can-do man with a conscience." He was the chair of the Illinois Board of Higher Education from 1962-69, developing master plans for all facets of post-secondary education in the State which were ultimately approved by the state legislature. In 1966, at the height of racial tension, Mayor Richard Daley appointed him chair of the Chicago Civil Rights Summit Conference on Fair Housing. But he turned down federal Cabinet positions and requests to run for public office, preferring to take on ad hoc assignments and to retain his base as a private civic leader. In that role he was a leading trustee of the University of Chicago and close personal advisor to the University administration for decades as well as a very engaged and active trustee for years of the Art Institute of Chicago (where he served on the acquisitions committee), The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Lyric Opera, becoming a life trustee for all these institutions. He also served on the boards of other organizations, including Illinois Bell Telephone, First National Bank of Chicago, Metropolitan Life, the Corning Museum of Glass and many charities.

The great foundation of Ben's life was his beloved wife, Natalie Goldstein Heineman, a national leader in child welfare services. They married on April 17, 1935. She died on February 28, 2010, just shy of their 75th wedding anniversary. Throughout their lives, they both exemplified a powerful dedication to public service and the public good. But they were also great adventurers, from traveling around the globe to their summer trips alone—into their early 80s—on their 62-foot sailboat along the beautiful but desolate North shore of Lake Superior. On his own, Ben loved cars, skiing, skeet shooting, photography, woodworking, computers (he was one of the first CEOs to have a desk-top) and reading (in his last years he was still reading 2 to 4 books a week). Together, they were deeply attached to their summer home in Door County, Wisconsin on a 200-foot limestone cliff looking westward over Green Bay, where they often welcomed friends and family.

One of their greatest adventures after Ben's retirement was assembling one of the largest and finest private collections of contemporary studio glass in the nation. They were early supporters of glass artists who subsequently became world famous, people like Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra, Toots Zynsky and Tom Patti. In 2006, Ben and Natalie gave the entire collection, valued at nearly $10 million, to the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, where it will be exhibited, on a rotating basis, in perpetuity, following a popular two-year exhibition in 2009-10 of all 240 objects by 87 international artists.

Ben is survived by his daughter Martha Heineman Pieper (Dr. William Pieper) of Chicago and their children, Thalia Field (Jamie Jewett and son, Benjamin), Dr. Jessica Heineman-Pieper (Dr. Param Srikantia), Johanna Heineman-Pieper and Victoria Stein (Jotham Stein and son, Gershon). He is also survived by his son, Ben W. Heineman, Jr (Cristine Russell) of New Canaan, CT and their sons, Zachary Heineman and Matthew Heineman.

Ben died peacefully in Waukesha, Wisconsin, shortly after having a stroke while visiting his daughter at her nearby summer home and failing to regain consciousness. Interment will be at the Heineman family mausoleum in Wausau, WI in a private family service. In lieu of flowers, donations in the name of Ben W. Heineman, Sr. can be made to The Natalie G. Heineman Smart Love Preschool, 800 W. Buena Avenue, Chicago, IL 60613 or online at www.smartlovefamily.org/contribute.php.