Franklin Augustine Thomas (May 27, 1934 – December 22, 2021) was an American businessman and philanthropist who was president and CEO of the
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
from 1979 until 1996. After leaving the foundation, Thomas continued to serve in leadership positions in American corporations and was on the board of the TFF Study Group, a nonprofit institution assisting development in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. Thomas was chairman of the nonprofit organization
September 11th Fund {{About, the New York-based 9/11 compensation fund, the US Congress-based fund, September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
The September 11th Fund was created by the New York Community Trust and the United Way of New York City in response to the dest ...
from 2001 to 2004 and was involved in the
Nelson Mandela Children's Fund
The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF) is a charitable organisation founded by Nelson Mandela, based in South Africa. Its mission is to help individuals from birth to age 22.Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. After the death of his father, his mother, Viola, an immigrant from
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
, headed the household, where he was the youngest of six children, as a housekeeper and waitress. Thomas attended the Franklin K. Lane High School. He then graduated from Columbia College in 1956, where he was a star basketball player and the first African-American captain of an Ivy League team. He later graduated from the
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
Southern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...
in 1964. He later served as Deputy Police Commissioner in Charge of Legal Matters for the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
for two years, starting in 1965; he was the first African-American to hold the position. Thomas was the first president and chief executive officer of
Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
The Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (or BSRC, referred to locally in short as Restoration) is a community development corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, and the first ever to be established in the United States.
Background Dec ...
(BSRC), a non-profit
community development corporation
A community development corporation (CDC) is a not-for-profit organization incorporated to provide programs, offer services and engage in other activities that promote and support community development. CDCs usually serve a geographic location su ...
, from 1967 to 1977. As president and CEO, Thomas led the organization renovating the exteriors of 3,682 buildings and 123 established businesses, and helped create 3,300 new jobs in the 96-block area. His successes at BSRC raised his profile nationally and he was well-regarded for his pragmatism and persuasiveness.
After leaving the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, Thomas headed a study of US policy toward South Africa for the Rockefeller Foundation recommending peaceful change. Alan J. Pifer, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, considered Thomas's direction of the study "brilliant." In 1979, Thomas became the first African-American to head a major foundation when he became president of the
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
, succeeding McGeorge Bundy. He was chosen out of 300 candidates; he had been a member of the Ford Foundation's board of trustees since 1977. His role came at a time where the foundations assets and resources were limited due to the stock market downturn in the 1970s and a large, cumbersome administration.
As president, he examined the organization's structure, financing, and grant-making practices, and initiated a six-part agenda that was intended to regain managerial and financial control which led to mass firings in 1982, prompting criticism from the trustees. During his tenure as president, he grew the foundation's portfolio of assets to over $6.5 billion; established new programs including the nation's largest community development support organization,
Local Initiatives Support Corporation
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is a US non-profit community development financial institution (CDFI) that supports community development initiatives across the country. It has offices in nearly 40 cities and works across 2,100 r ...
(LISC); and expanded its global reach. He also worked to improve the lives of women through the production of nonsexist textbooks, forming farm organizations in rural areas, increasing the number of female professionals at the Ford Foundation, and instituted paid paternal leave. In 1996, he left the Ford Foundation to concentrate on the problems and opportunities of South Africa as a consultant to the TFF Study Group, which built on his anti-apartheid efforts at the Ford Foundation.
In October 2001, Thomas was appointed the Chairman of the September 11 Fund, which was formed to support the victims, families, and communities affected by the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
. He held the position until 2004, overseeing the collection of $534 million and awarding 559 grants totaling $528 million.
Thomas 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 2006.
Board of directors
In their article published in the ''Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics'', Fowler, Fronmueller and Schifferdecker argued that Thomas was one of eight Citigroup Inc. directors who served on interlocking directorates.
Thomas served on the board of directors of
Cummins
Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...
, Inc.,
Lucent Technologies
Lucent Technologies, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey. It was established on September 30, 1996, through the divestiture of the former AT&T Technologies business u ...
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, and PepsiCo, Inc.
He was also the second African American to be elected to the Board of Trustees of
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
M. Moran Weston
Milton Moran Weston II (better known as M. Moran Weston, September 10, 1910 – May 18, 2002) was an African-American Episcopal priest who "led one of Harlem's most prominent churches, helped found what became the nation's largest black-owned ...
.
Legacy and awards
In 1979, he was awarded an honorary degree from Columbia University.
In 2016,
John Jay College
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts ...
established the Franklin A. Thomas Professorship in Policing Equity with $2.5 million in grants from the Ford Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropies.
In 2020, he was awarded the Medal for Excellence by Columbia Law School.
In 2020, Thomas was portrayed by
Jay Ellis
Wendell Ramone "Jay" Ellis Jr. (born December 27, 1981) is an American actor. In 2013, Ellis received his first major role on BET's series ''The Game (American TV series), The Game''. He is a main cast member on HBO's series ''Insecure (TV serie ...
Mrs. America Mrs. America may refer to;
* ''Mrs. America'' (miniseries), a 2020 US television mini-series
* Mrs. America (contest), a US national beauty pageant
See also
* '' Mr. and Mrs. America'', a 1945 film
* Mr. America (disambiguation)
* Miss America ...
''.
Personal life
Thomas married Dawn Conrada, later divorcing in 1972. The couple had four children: two boys and two girls. From 1971 to 1974, Thomas was romantically involved with
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Steinem was a c ...
after she interviewed him for an article in ''New York'' magazine. He later married Kate Roosevelt Whitney. Whitney is the daughter of
James Roosevelt
James Roosevelt II (December 23, 1907 – August 13, 1991) was an American businessman, Marine, activist, and Democratic Party politician. The eldest son of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, he served as an official Secr ...
, granddaughter of
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and
Harvey Cushing
Harvey Williams Cushing (April 8, 1869 – October 7, 1939) was an American neurosurgeon, pathologist, writer, and draftsman. A pioneer of brain surgery, he was the first exclusive neurosurgeon and the first person to describe Cushing's disease. ...