| 1 | Name: | Mr. Franklin A. Thomas | |
| Institution: | Ford Foundation; The Study Group | ||
| Year Elected: | 2006 | ||
| Class: | 5. The Arts, Professions, and Leaders in Public & Private Affairs | ||
| Subdivision: | 503. Administrators, Bankers and Opinion Leaders from the Public or Private Sectors | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1934 | ||
| Death Date: | December 22, 2021 | ||
Franklin A. Thomas was born in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from Franklin K. Lane High School, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Columbia College in 1956 and a degree in law from Columbia University Law School in 1963. From 1956-60 he was a navigator in the United States Air Force, Strategic Air Command. In 1963, Mr. Thomas became an attorney for the Federal Housing and Home Finance Agency, and in 1964 he was named an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. From 1965-67 he served as Deputy Police Commissioner in Charge of Legal Matters for the New York City Police Department. From 1967-77, Mr. Thomas served as President and CEO of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, one of the nation's first public/private partnerships aimed at the comprehensive development (housing, business development, education, culture and recreation) of one of the nation's largest distressed urban communities. The Restoration Corporation has served as a model for thousands of similarly focused community-based development corporations throughout the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Thomas was Chair of the Rockefeller Foundation-funded Study Commission on U.S. Policy Toward South Africa from 1979-81 and later served as a member of the Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on South Africa from 1985-87. In June 1979, he was elected President of the Ford Foundation, having joined the Foundation's Board of Trustees in 1977. During the seventeen years that he led the Ford Foundation, its assets quadrupled and he deployed those assets on behalf of social justice and economic freedom across the world. He retired from that position in 1996. The Study Group, which he heads, provides advice to leaders and organizations in the non-profit and governmental sectors in support of equitable human development worldwide. Mr. Thomas is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lyndon Baines Johnson Award for "Contributions to the Betterment of Urban Life," the John Jay and Alexander Hamilton Awards from Columbia College, and Columbia Law School's James Kent Medal for distinguished professional achievement. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Frederick Douglass Award and of Columbia University's Medal of Excellence. He has been granted honorary degrees from Bank Street College, Columbia University, Fordham University, New School University, Pace University, Pratt University and Yale University. Mr. Thomas is a director/trustee of several corporate and not for profit boards and serves as an advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. From 2001-06 Mr. Thomas was chair of the September 11th Fund, created by the New York City Community Trust and the United Way of New York City in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Fund assisted victims, their families and affected communities. | |||