Sara Miller McCune (born 1941) is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the co-founder and executive chair of

SAGE Publishing SAGE Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent publishing company founded in 1965 in New York by Sara Miller McCune and now based in Newbury Park, California. It publishes more than 1,000 journals, more than 800 books ...

Early life

McCune was born the elder of two in her family, a middle-class

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

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. She was international president of

B'nai B'rith Girls BBYO (formerly ''B'nai B'rith Youth Organization Inc.'') is a Jewish teen movement, organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The organization is intended to build the identity of Jewish teens and offer ...

at the age of 19, and has spoken of the importance of

tzedakah ''Tzedakah'' or ''Ṣedaqah'' ( he, צדקה ) is a Hebrew word meaning "righteousness", but commonly used to signify '' charity''. This concept of "charity" differs from the modern Western understanding of "charity". The latter is typically u ...

Career

In 1965, McCune founded the independent academic publishing company SAGE in New York City with

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publ ...

executive George D. McCune as a "mentor"; the name of the company is an acronym formed from the first letters of their given names. SAGE relocated to Southern California in 1966, after the two married; George McCune left Macmillan to formally join SAGE at that time. Sara Miller McCune remained president for 18 years, shifting to board chairman in 1984; retaining the title of executive chairman. The couple continued to develop the company together until George McCune's death in 1990. In 2021 McCune signed over her voting shares and control of the company to the SAGE-SMM Trust, citing this as a strategy to ensure SAGE remains independent.

Philanthropy

McCune has funded schools in the developing world, and made contributions to California organizations and educational establishments, including $2.5 million to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, $3.5 million to found the SAGE Center For the Study of the Mind at

UCSB The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

, and over $5 million to the Granada Theater Restoration Project. She is also a Trustee and supporter of the UCSB Foundation She founded the charitable McCune Foundation in 1990. In 2003, she received the ''Spirit of Entrepreneurship'' award at the Entrepreneur of the Year awards, sponsored by Ernst and Young. Women’s Campaign International (WCI) recently honored her at an event entitled ''Shattering The Glass Ceiling: Honoring Inspirational Women Around The Globe''. In 2007, McCune founded the Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media and Public Policy in Santa Barbara, California, and serves as its executive chairman. In 2008, she announced the launch of '' Miller-McCune'' magazine, published in print and online, by the nonprofit Miller McCune Center for Research, Media and Public Policy, with support from SAGE. On February 21, 2012 the magazine rebranded as ''Pacific Standard''. In 2017, the magazine and the center’s mission were transferred to the newly launched Social Justice Foundation. On August 7, 2019, the editor of ''Pacific Standard'' reported that the magazine was closing, after McCune abruptly cut off funding. In 2014, she became a member of the distinguished Visiting Committee of the Social Science Research Council, based in New York City. In 2015, she established a fund for research methods at the Council. In 2017, she joined the Council’s board of directors.

Honours

In 2016, McCune received an honorary degree from CSU Channel Islands for her support for the arts, social issues and patronage and an honorary doctorate from Sussex University. In 2014, McCune was named as one of Folio’s 100 Visionaries. In 2016, McCune received the Rock Star: Lifetime Achievement Award from the Spirit of Entrepreneurship Foundation. In 2017, McCune was recognized and honored by the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers for her contribution to scholarly publishing. and in 2018, she was awarded the London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her 50+ years working within the publishing industry. She 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 2018.

References

External links

McCune Foundation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCune, Sara Miller Living people People from Manhattan American publishers (people) Jewish American philanthropists Members of the American Philosophical Society Philanthropists from New York (state) 1941 births Social Science Research Council 20th-century publishers (people) 21st-century publishers (people) 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists 21st-century philanthropists Businesspeople from New York City 21st-century American Jews 21st-century women philanthropists 21st-century American philanthropists 20th-century women philanthropists