Andrew Watson "Butch" Armour III (October 22, 1908 – December 27, 1991) was a member of the prominent Armour family of meatpacking fame (

Armour and Company Armour & Company was an American company and was one of the five leading firms in the meat packing industry. It was founded in Chicago, in 1867, by the Armour brothers led by Philip Danforth Armour. By 1880, the company had become Chicago's most ...

), a company president, and notable

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

who, together with his wife Sarah Wood Armour, gave millions of dollars to

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, St. Mark's School, Chicago's

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

, and other charitable causes.

Biography

'Butch' Armour was born in 1908 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

into vast wealth, later moving to

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest ...

, where most of the Armour heirs lived. He attended St. Mark's School, then went to Princeton University, dropping out in his junior year. Armour worked for his family's company for a decade, then joined the Huck Manufacturing Co., eventually rising to the position of president. He also served on numerous boards. According to Princeton University's website, Armour gave nearly six million dollars to the university, funding the Armour Centennial Fellowship, the Armour Faculty Support Fund, and The A. Watson Armour III and Sarah Wood Armour Fund for Music. He gave millions more to St. Mark's School, where the athletic cage and an endowed teaching position is named in his honor. Armour was also a major contributor for many years to Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, where the A. Watson Armour III Spring Symposia are named in his honor. Princeton University's A. Watson Armour III university professorship of Slavic Languages and Literature is endowed in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armour, Andrew Watson III 1908 births 1991 deaths American food industry business executives St. Mark's School (Massachusetts) alumni Princeton University alumni Businesspeople from Chicago Philanthropists from Illinois 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists Armour family