Albert J. Weatherhead III, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and Visionary Dies
The Weatherhead East Asian Institute of Columbia University mourns the loss of its great friend and supporter, Albert J. Weatherhead III, 86, who passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, September 20, 2011, after a brief battle with cancer and pneumonia.
A lifelong resident and civic supporter of the city of Cleveland, Mr. Weatherhead was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, a 1950 graduate of Harvard College and, later, of the Harvard Business School. He began his successful business career at two large public corporations before joining The Weatherhead Company in 1956. In 1971 he purchased a small manufacturing company, which he renamed Weatherchem Corporation and built into one of the largest manufacturers of plastic closures for food and pharmaceutical products. He received a number of US and Canadian patents for his innovations in metal-working and plastic manufacturing. In 1986, he became the President of Weatherhead Industries, Inc., and in 1988, President of the Weatherhead Foundation.
Known as a dynamic thinker and a creative philanthropist, Mr. Weatherhead devoted much of his time and financial support to education and research, with special long-term commitments to Case Western, Harvard, Columbia, and Tulane Universities as well as to the University of Texas Medical Center in Houston. The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard, and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia are testaments to his devotion to education.
The family association with Columbia began when Richard W. Weatherhead, Al's younger brother, received his Ph.D. in Latin American history from the History Department in 1966. He initiated the Foundation’s series of generous gifts to Columbia in 1980. From the mid-1980s his interest in Japanese history brought him to the East Asian Institute, and after his early death, Al Weatherhead continued to support and develop the Weatherhead Fund, which resulted in the renaming of the Institute in 2003. The Weatherhead Fellowships for graduate study of East Asia across the departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are further evidence of the Foundation’s benefactions to Columbia. Over the past two decades, Al and Celia Weatherhead have steadfastly and together supported, encouraged, and cheered on the work of the Institute in expanding the knowledge of and engagement with East Asia.
A man of intelligence, determination, and unflagging optimism, Mr. Weatherhead inspired many in the fields of business, civic activity, and education. In addition to earlier books on business, in 2008 he published his memoir, The Power of Adversity: Tough Times Can Make You Stronger, Wiser and Better. He thought of adversity as a gift rather than a curse, an attitude he often expressed as “Don’t ask ‘Why me?’ Ask ‘Why not me?” Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger wrote in his comment on the book: “The lessons Al Weatherhead seeks to impart here are a testament to a life of generosity won through practicing what so many only preach – that every challenge represents another opportunity for success. Many in higher education today enjoy the fruits of his persistence."
Myron L. Cohen, the Director of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, reflected on the warm relationship of the Weatherheads with Columbia: "The friendship that Al and his wife Celia have given the University, and most especially to the Institute, leaves an immeasurable impact on the field of East Asian and global scholarship. Al’s continual encouragement and support has provided many opportunities to a generation of scholars and alumni, and will continue to do so to future generations. We greatly mourn the loss of his ebullient and stimulating presence."
