Porter Maxwell Jarvis (6 November 1902 in

Clarksburg, West Virginia Clarksburg is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, in the north-central region of the state. The population of the city was 16,039 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg micro ...

– 23 December 1991 in

Tubac, Arizona Tubac is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,191 at the 2010 census. The place name "Tubac" is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name ''Cuwak'', which tr ...

) was a prominent Chicago businessman and leader in the American

meat-packing industry The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally no ...

. He was president and then chairman of the board of Swift & Co., 1955 to 1967. During his years as president and chairman, Swift & Co., with an annual revenue of $2.76 billion, was the thirteenth largest corporation in America.

Family, early life, and education

The son of Hugh Jarvis (1870-1947), a banker and farm owner, and Harriet Maxwell, he grew up in

, and attended

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

, where he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in 1924. majoring in animal husbandry. Later, he earned a

Master of Business Administration 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 ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. In 1928, he married Elizabeth Hauck (died 1963), with whom he had two children, Hugh (1937) and Elizabeth (Betty),1940. In 1966, he married Dorothy Collom Hattendorf (1903-1997). For much of his active business career, he lived in Beverly, Chicago. After his retirement, he was a resident of

and Willowick Farm, located between Newark, Illinois and

Sandwich, Illinois Sandwich is a city in DeKalb and Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 7,421 at the 2010 census and 7,221 at the 2020 census. History The town's history is tied to politician "Long John" Wentworth and his efforts t ...

as well as a summer resident at

Portage Point, Michigan Portage Point is an unincorporated summer resort area of Onekama Township, Manistee County in the U.S. state of Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 1 ...

Business career

Porter Jarvis joined the Provision Department of Swift & Co. in 1926, as a trainee in its pork department in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

, later rising to be assistant to the vice president, John Holmes, in charge of the pork division, 1933 to 1938. From 1933 to 1938, he was assistant to Holmes, when Holmes became president of the company. Jarvis was vice president of Swift and Company from 1941 to 1950, and serving as a director from 1949 to 1967. In 1950, he became the first person to serve as executive vice president from 1950 to 1955, then rising to become chief executive of the company as president, from 1955 to 1964, and then chairman from 1964 until his retirement in 1967. He was a director of the American Meat Institute, the Iowa State University Foundation, the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

International Harvester Company The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...

, and the Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust. Additional, he served as a trustee of the

and the Museum of Science and Industry. He was a member of the Economic, Commercial, Chicago, and Union League clubs in Chicago. Retiring from Swift in accordance with its age-65 retirement policy, Jarvis had overseen sweeping changes in the meat packing industry and within Swift & Company. Under his leadership, the company diversified into such fields as nitrogen products and potash; investment in the company's insurance complex as well as increasing Swift's adhesive plants to twenty-five located in the United States, Canada, and England. In addition, Swift substantially developed specialized services for hotels, restaurants, and other institutions. Overseas, Swift went into a variety of ventures on a joint basis with local partners in other countries. Jarvis was a strong advocate for the company's research and development department. At the time of his retirement on 1 December 1967, the company was in the process of moving 300 scientists into a new multi-million dollar research center located at

Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook is a village mostly in DuPage County with a small portion in Cook County in Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 8,163. This suburb of Chicago has the headquarters of several companies and organizations including Ace H ...

. Jarvis was succeeded as chief executive of the company by Robert W. Reneker.

Honors

Porter Jarvis held honorary doctorates of law from the

University of West Virginia West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

, West Virginia Wesleyan College, and the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

. The West Virginia Future Farmers of America awarded him its Honorary Degree in 1963. In 1964, Iowa State University presented him with its Distinguished Alumni Award. List of ISU Distinguished Award Recipients
/ref>

References

External links

Photograph in University of Chicago Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvis, Porter 1902 births 1991 deaths Businesspeople from Clarksburg, West Virginia Iowa State University alumni University of Chicago alumni American food industry business executives People from Sandwich, Illinois 20th-century American businesspeople People from Santa Cruz County, Arizona University of Chicago trustees 20th-century American academics