Lindsay J. Morgenthaler, Educational and Civic Leader, Dies at 96
December 06 2018 - 4:13PM
Business Wire
Lindsay J. Morgenthaler, a prominent university trustee and
Cleveland civic leader, died on December 3, 2018 in Palo Alto,
California. She was 96 years old.
Mrs. Morgenthaler served as President, Chairman and Trustee of a
multitude of educational, media, theatrical, medical, philanthropic
and civic institutions in Cleveland, Ohio and nationally. She
proved extraordinarily effective as manager and as fundraiser for
her organizations, raising over $2 billion in charitable
donations.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Lindsay Morgenthaler received
a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in 1945.
After World War II, she married David T. Morgenthaler, an MIT
graduate, entrepreneur and pioneering venture capitalist, with whom
she had four children.
After relocating to Cleveland, Ohio, Mrs. Morgenthaler began a
career of educational and civic leadership that spanned four
decades. She served as President of the Great Lakes Shakespeare
Festival (GLSF), one of four Shakespearean repertory companies in
North America, and led it to national prominence. GLSF launched the
careers of many actors including Tom Hanks and John Lithgow.
At Carnegie Mellon University, Mrs. Morgenthaler served 25 years
as Life Trustee and Chairman of the Andrew Carnegie Society,
President’s Circle and National Fund development campaigns. Her
fundraising efforts raised over $1 billion dollars and, together
with Presidents Richard Cyert and Robert Mehrabian, she led
Carnegie Mellon’s development into a globally recognized leader in
computer science and performing arts education.
At Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Mrs. Morgenthaler
served 15 years as Trustee and Chairman of the CWRU Medical School
campaign, raising $250 million dollars.
President Ronald Reagan appointed Lindsay Morgenthaler to the
President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts for the Kennedy Center
in Washington, D.C., where she served during both terms of his
presidency. Later, President George H.W. Bush appointed her to the
Bicentennial Commission in preparation for the nation’s
Bicentennial in 1996.
In Cleveland, Ohio, Mrs. Morgenthaler served for decades as Vice
Chairman of the Cleveland Ballet and of Playhouse Square
Foundation. She also served as Trustee of the Cleveland Foundation,
Leadership Cleveland, WVIZ-TV Public Television, Cleveland Museum
of Art, Cleveland Town Hall, Lakewood Hospital and numerous other
charitable and philanthropic causes.
Together with her husband David, she funded a professorship of
entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, a founding
sponsorship of the Entrepreneurship Center at MIT, the Morgenthaler
Fellows Program at the Cleveland Clinic, the David T. Morgenthaler
II Fellows Program at Stanford University and the Einstein Society
of the National Academies.
“Lindsay Morgenthaler lived a life in service to her family and
her many causes. She was altruistic and used her wealth to support
people and causes in education, entrepreneurship and the arts. She
did not seek leadership but was consistently chosen. As a leader,
she was purposeful, results-oriented, persevering and extremely
effective. She took no credit but was humble, self-effacing and
redirected recognition to others,” said her son, Gary Morgenthaler,
Partner at Morgenthaler Ventures. “Trained as an artist, Lindsay
was creative, gracious and refined. Lindsay was described by
colleagues as ‘an elegant bundle of auburn-haired determination.’
For forty years, leaders from the ‘Greatest Generation’ welcomed
her into boardrooms as one of their own. She was a woman ahead of
her time.”
Lindsay Morgenthaler is survived by her children, Gary, Todd and
Lissa, and by seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
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Rachel Kerstetterrkerstetter@ggcomm.com