Ewing Kauffman
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Ewing Marion Kauffman (pronounced /ˈjuːɪŋ ˈkɔfmən/, September 21, 1916 - August 1, 1993) was an American pharmaceutical magnate, philanthropist, and Major League Baseball owner.
Born near Garden City, Missouri, Kauffman grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He was bedridden for a year at age 11 with a heart ailment, during which he read as many as 40 books a month. Kauffman was an Eagle Scout and as an adult was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.[1]
After serving in the United States Navy in World War II, Kauffman worked as a pharmaceutical salesman until 1950, when he formed Marion Laboratories with a $5,000 investment, operating it initially out of the basement of his home. He reportedly chose to use his middle name rather than his last name in order to not appear to be a one-man operation.
Marion Laboratories had revenues of $930 million the year before it merged with Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (now part of Aventis) in 1989. The company sale made more than 300 millionaires.
Kauffman founded the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation[2] in the mid-1960s to provide cash grants to encourage entrepreneurship across America and improve education for children and youth, mostly in and around the Kansas City metropolitan area.
At the encouragement of his wife, Muriel, Kauffman bought the Kansas City Royals baseball team as an expansion franchise in 1968 and owned the team until his death in 1993. During his ownership the team won six division titles, two league championships, and a World Series Championship (in 1985).
In his will, Kauffman stipulated that proceeds from the sale of the Royals would go to Kansas City area charities. A month before his death, Royals Stadium was renamed Kauffman Stadium in his honor.
On November 8, 2007, he was nominated to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the 2008 class.[3] He was not elected.
[edit] References
- ^ Distinguished Eagle Scouts. Troop and Pack 179. Retrieved on 2006-03-02.
- ^ Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
- ^ Executives, managers, and umpires to be considered for 2008. The National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum. Retrieved on 2007-11-27.
[edit] External links
- Baseball Hall of Fame - 2008 Veterans Committee candidate profile
- The Kauffman Foundation
- Kauffman eVenturing
- The Kauffman Fellows Program
- The iBridge Network
- Ewing Kauffman at Find A Grave
