Donald Edward Graham (born April 22, 1945) is the majority owner and

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

Graham Holdings Company Graham Holdings Company (formerly The Washington Post Company) is a diversified American conglomerate holding company. Headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, and incorporated in Delaware, it was formerly the owner of ''The Washington Post ...

. He was formerly the publisher of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' (1979–2000) and later was the lead independent director of

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

's board of directors (2009–2015).

Early life

His parents were

Katharine Graham Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, '' The Washington Post'', from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, w ...

(née Meyer), later a publisher of ''The Washington Post'', and her husband,

Philip Graham Philip Leslie Graham (July 18, 1915 – August 3, 1963) was an American newspaperman. He served as publisher and later co-owner of '' The Washington Post'' and its parent company, The Washington Post Company. During his years with the Post Co ...

.Godfrey Hodgson
"Katharine Graham - Washington Post publisher who took over the family business after her husband's suicide and saw it through the Watergate scandal"
''The Guardian'', July 18, 2001. His maternal grandmother was Agnes Meyer. His maternal grandfather, Eugene Meyer, bought the bankrupt ''Post'' shortly after stepping down as

Chairman of the Federal Reserve The chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the Federal Reserve, and is the active executive officer of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The chair shall preside at the meetings of the Boa ...

in mid-1933. Graham's mother Katherine Meyer was baptized as Lutheran as a child, as her mother was Lutheran. Her father was Jewish. Katherine (Meyer) Graham later attended an Episcopal church.Zweigenhaft, Richard L., and G. William Domhof
The New CEOs: Women, African American, Latino, and Asian American Leaders of Fortune 500 Companies
Published: 2014-03-18 , Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers His father Philip Graham was also raised as a Lutheran. Graham graduated from the private St. Albans School. He attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

. In 1965, he was elected president of ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

'', the college's daily. After graduation in 1966, Graham volunteered for military service. He served in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

from 1967 to 1968, as part of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

1st Cavalry Division. From January 1969 to June 1970, Graham joined the

Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the DC Police, and, colloquially, the DCPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columbi ...

as a patrolman.

''The Post''

Eugene Meyer, Graham's maternal grandfather, bought ''

'' at a bankruptcy sale in 1933. Graham's father Philip was publisher of ''The Washington Post'' from 1946 until 1961, and president of the Washington Post Company from 1947 until his death in 1963. Graham’s mother Katharine took over the newspaper as publisher after her husband's death. She led ''The Washington Post'' newspaper for more than two decades, overseeing its most famous period, the

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continu ...

coverage that helped expose misdeeds of President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, who was persuaded to resign. She has been widely described as one of the most powerful American women of the 20th century. In 1971, Donald Graham joined ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter. He held a variety of news and business positions at the ''Post'' and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' (until 2010, it was owned by The Washington Post Company), until the newspaper was sold in 2013 to

Jeff Bezos Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ''né'' Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former presi ...

. Graham was elected to the board of the company in September 1974; in 1976 he was appointed as executive vice president and general manager of the Post. Graham became publisher of ''The Washington Post'' in 1979, succeeding his mother. She retained her corporate positions of chairman of the board and CEO of The Washington Post Company. The Company owns the newspaper, as well as the educational services provider Kaplan, Inc., Post-Newsweek Stations, Cable One, ''Slate'' magazine, and other smaller companies. Donald Graham became CEO in 1991 and chairman of the company in May 1993, while Katharine Graham assumed the position of chairman of the executive committee of the Washington Post Company. In September 2000, Graham was elected chairman of the newspaper and passed the position of publisher to Boisfeuillet Jones, Jr.

Other roles

Graham also served as a member of the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

Board between 2001 and 2010. He is on the board of the District of Columbia College Access Program and is a trustee of the

Federal City Council Federal City Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes economic development in the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Incorporated on September 13, 1954, it is one of the most powerful private groups in the city, ...

in Washington, D.C. Graham formerly served as a member of the board of directors of the Summit Fund of Washington. He is also an invitee of the

Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg meeting (also known as the Bilderberg Group) is an annual off-the-record conference established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally to prevent another world war, is now defi ...

and attended conference meetings in Greece 2009, and Spain 2010.

Honors

In 1974, Graham was awarded an honorary doctorate from

Whittier College Whittier College (Whittier Academy (1887–1901)) is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of fall 2022, had approximately 1,300 (undergraduate and graduate) students. It was ...

. In 2003, Graham received the Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

. He was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 2004.

Personal life

In 1967, Graham married Mary Wissler. Wissler earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard-Radcliffe, where they met, and a J.D. degree from

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

. She is a research fellow at the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, publi ...

's Taubman Center, focusing on such issues as health and safety regulations. In 2007, the couple announced that they were separating. They have four children. On June 30, 2012, Graham married Amanda Bennett, the director of ''

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the State media, state-owned news network and International broadcasting, international radio broadcaster of the United States, United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international br ...

'', and former executive editor at Bloomberg News. She was in charge of a global team of investigative reporters and editors. His daughter Laura is married to Tim O'Shaughnessy, former CEO of

LivingSocial LivingSocial is an online marketplace that allows its registered users to buy and share things to do in their city. Formerly headquartered in Washington, D.C., LivingSocial had roughly 70 million members around the world in 2013. The company shr ...

. He is current president of

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Donald E. 1945 births American chief executives in the media industry American people of German-Jewish descent Directors of Facebook Graham family (newspapers) Harvard College alumni Living people Members of the American Philosophical Society Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia officers Newmark family Place of birth missing (living people) St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni The Harvard Crimson people The Washington Post people The Washington Post publishers