Daniel E. Koshland Sr. (18921979) was an American businessman who served as CEO of Levi Strauss & Co.

Biography

Koshland was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in San Francisco, the son of Marcus Koshland and Corinne Schweitzer.Butler Koshland Fellowships: "Daniel E. Koshland Sr.
retrieved April 21, 2014 He was the grandson of Simon Koshland, one of the most successful wool merchants in San Francisco who also taught Koshland's father the trade. Koshland graduated from Lowell High School in San Francisco and graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. After graduation he worked as a banker in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and in 1917, returned to San Francisco where he attended the US Army officer training program at the

Presidio A presidio ( en, jail, fortification) was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire around between 16th century, 16th and 18th century, 18th centuries in areas in condition of their control or influence. The presidios of Captaincy Genera ...

. He was not allowed to transfer to the Intelligence Corps overseas during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

because of his German last name and instead served at

Governor's Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk C ...

, New York. In 1922, he returned to San Francisco where he joined his brother-in-law Walter A. Haas Sr. at Levi Strauss & Co. which was at the time a small manufacturer of work clothing and a small drygoods wholesaler. Koshland's tenure at Levi Strauss – along with that of his brother-in-law – is widely credited with saving the company leading it through the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, racial integration at its factories, the global popularization of the Levi brand, and the creation of the Levi Strauss Foundation. Koshland served as CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. from 1955 to 1958.

Philanthropy

In 1948, he established the

San Francisco Foundation San Francisco Foundation is a San Francisco Bay Area philanthropy organization. It is one of the largest community foundations Community foundations (CFs) are instruments of civil society designed to pool donations into a coordinated investment and ...

. Koshland served with various charities in varying capacities in the San Francisco area including the Industrial Welfare Commission; the Human Rights Commission; the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Committee;

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

; Mount Zion Hospital; the Community Chest; the United Bay Area Crusade; the Citizen's Lobby for Freedom and Fair Play; the San Francisco Development Commission on Low-Cost Housing; the Council on Civic Unity; and the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

. He organized the business community to create jobs for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

refugees and served as the national vice chairman of the

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities. ...

. He was active in the founding of

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

and promoted the development low-cost community colleges specifically the

College of San Mateo College of San Mateo (CSM) is a public community college in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo County Community College District. College of San Mateo is located at the northern corridor of Silicon Valley and situated on a 15 ...

and

Cañada College Cañada College is a public community college in Redwood City, California. It is located on in the western part of Redwood City. It is one of the smallest community colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area. History In 1957, the San Mateo Jun ...

. Several awards have been dedicated in his honor including the Jewish Community Federation's Haas/Koshland Award, the Koshland Young Leader Award of the

, and the Butler Koshland Fellowships.

Personal life

In 1918, he married his cousin Eleanor Haas (Eleanor's mother Fanny was Koshland's aunt), daughter of Haas family patriarch

Abraham Haas Abraham Haas (1847–August 8, 1921) was an American businessman, co-founder of the Hellman, Haas & Co. (which became Smart & Final), and patriarch of the Haas family. Biography Haas was born to a Jewish family in Reckendorf, Kingdom of Bavaria ...

. They had three children:

Daniel E. Koshland Jr. Daniel Edward Koshland Jr. (March 30, 1920July 23, 2007) was an American biochemist. He reorganized the study of biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and was the editor of the leading U.S. science journal, ''Science'', from 1985 ...

(married to Marian Elliot Koshland), Frances "Sissy" Koshland Geballe (married to Theodore H. Geballe), and Phyllis Koshland Friedman. Eleanor would later be diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

and would devote a good portion of her philanthropy toward people with disabilities. After the death of his first wife, he married Lucile Heming in 1959.The Regents of The University of California: "Lucile Heming Koshland – Citizen Participation in Government" An Interview Conducted by Harriet Nathan
1971

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koshland, Daniel E. 1892 births 1979 deaths Jewish American philanthropists Haas family University of California, Berkeley alumni Levi Strauss & Co. people Koshland family