David Paresky is a retired American businessman, who formerly worked in the travel service sector. He is also a well-known

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 ...

Early life

Paresky was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1938. He grew up in

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

. Paresky attended

Philips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover, Massachusetts, Andover , stat ...

on a scholarship before attending

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

, also as a scholarship student. He graduated from Williams in 1960 and went on to receive his J.D. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1963 and then his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from Harvard in 1965.

Career

Paresky began his tenure in travel services at Philips Academy, where he organized spring break trips to

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for students. Later, Paresky turned this interest into a profitable career. After graduation from Harvard, Paresky began Crimson Travel, a successful company that became the largest travel company in the New England region. Crimson Travel merged with Heritage Travel and then with Thomas Cook Travel, becoming ultimately one of the largest travel companies in the United States. Thomas Cook Travel was founded by

Thomas Cook Thomas Cook (22 November 1808 – 18 July 1892) was an English businessman. He is best known for founding the travel agency Thomas Cook & Son. He was also one of the initial developers of the "package tour" including travel, accommodation ...

in 1841 in England and survived over the years before moving operations to the United States. American Express purchased Thomas Cook's travel offices in the United States in 1994, which were owned by Paresky and his wife.

Philanthropy

Paresky has donated significant portions of money to both Philips Academy and Williams College in order to build new student facilities. At Williams, the student center built in 2006 is named

Paresky Center Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was killed i ...

in his name after he donated $15.75 million to the school. At Philips Academy, Paresky's $10 million donation was used to renovate its main dining hall, renamed Paresky Commons in 2008.

Personal life

Paresky currently lives in

Fisher Island, Florida Fisher Island is a census-designated place in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, located on a barrier island of the same name. Since 2015, Fisher Island has the highest per capita income of any place in the United States. It had only 218 ...

with his wife Linda. He received

's Bicentennial Medal in 2012. Paresky was one of the investors exploited by

Bernie Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDA ...

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...

, which came to light in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paresky, David 1938 births Williams College alumni Harvard Law School alumni American philanthropists Living people Harvard Business School alumni Businesspeople from Boston People from Burlington, Vermont Phillips Academy alumni