{{Short description|American businessman (1915–2010)}} {{Infobox person | name = Walter Shorenstein | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1915|2|15}} | birth_place = Glen Cove, New York, US | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2010|06|24|1915|2|15}} | death_place = | alma_mater = University of Pennsylvania (BA) | parents = | spouse = Phyllis Finley | children = Joan Shorenstein<br> Carole Shorenstein Hays<br> Douglas W. Shorenstein | other_names = | known_for = Principal of Shorenstein Properties | occupation = Real estate developer }}
'''Walter H. Shorenstein''' (February 15, 1915 – June 24, 2010)<ref name=LATimesObit>Dennis McLellan (June 26, 2010). [https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-walter-shorenstein-20100626-story.html "Walter H. Shorenstein dies at 95; Democratic Party fundraiser and San Francisco real estate mogul"]. ''Los Angeles Times''.</ref> was an American billionaire real estate developer and investor. His company, Shorenstein Properties, owned 130 buildings totaling at least {{convert|28000000|sqft|m2}} of office space at the time of his death.<ref name="street">{{cite news|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |title=Street-smart developer shaped S.F. skyline |author=Robert Selna |date=2010-06-24 |url=https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Street-smart-developer-shaped-S-F-skyline-3183559.php}}</ref>
==Early life== Shorenstein was born to a Jewish family<ref>Edward S Shapiro. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DGn8UMzI--8C&q=shorenstein&pg=PA116 ''We Are Many: Reflections On American Jewish History And Identity'']. p. 116, retrieved April 6, 2013.</ref><ref name="street" /><ref>Jacob Berkman (October 5, 2009). [https://www.jta.org/2009/10/05/fundermentalist/at-least-139-of-the-forbes-400-are-jewish "At least 139 of the Forbes 400 are Jewish"]. Jewish Telegraph Agency.</ref> in 1915 in Glen Cove, New York, son of a clothier.<ref name=LATimesObit /> His uncle, Hyman Schorenstein, was a political "kingmaker" in New York during the early 20th century, and ancestor to a number of New York politicians.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/25/nyregion/25jewish.html |title=An Old-Time Kingmaker and His Political Legacy |author=Sam Roberts |date=2008-08-24}}</ref> In 1934, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1941, he enlisted in the United States Air Force.<ref name="street"/>
==Career== Upon his discharge from the Air Force, Shorenstein moved to San Francisco with savings of $1,000.<ref name="billions">{{cite news|website=Forbes Magazine|url=https://blogs.forbes.com/billions/2010/06/25/walter-shorenstein-real-estate-magnate-dies-at-95/|title=Walter Shorenstein, Real Estate Magnate, Dies at 95 |date=2010-06-25 |author=Keren Bankfeld}}</ref> He worked as a commercial real estate broker, becoming a partner at Milton Meyer and Co., a firm he bought in 1960 upon its founder's death and renamed after himself.<ref name="street"/> He and others attributed his success in business to "street smarts".<ref name="street"/><ref name=LATimesObit />
In 1993, Shorenstein helped an investor group purchase the San Francisco Giants baseball team thus preventing the franchise from moving to Florida.<ref name="street"/>
==Philanthropy and political activities== Shorenstein became active politically and was a significant fundraiser for the Democratic Party. He was a major donor to civic and charitable causes, as well as higher education.<ref name="street" /> He was prominent in the Jewish-American political and philanthropic community.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=Associated Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1988&dat=19890125&id=vz0iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AKoFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1208,1984195 |title=Brown the front-runner for Democratic chairman |date=1989-01-25 |via=Google News}}</ref> In honor of his daughter who died of cancer in 1985, Shorenstein founded the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy—renamed the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy in 2014—at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He also endowed the Walter H. Shorenstein Forum for Asia Pacific Studies at Stanford University.<ref>[http://fsi.stanford.edu/events/series/walter_shorenstein_forum "Walter H. Shorenstein Forum for Asia Pacific Studies"]. Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, retrieved August 3, 2013.</ref> In 1993, he and Mikhail Gorbachev established the Gorbachev Foundation in San Francisco.<ref name="billions" /> In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed him as a member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a position he filled until 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/103rd-congress/1639|title=PN1639 — Walter H. Shorenstein — Corporation for National and Community Service|work=United States Congress|date=October 7, 1994}}</ref>
==Family== In 1945, Shorenstein married Phyllis Finley of Wellington, Kansas. She met her husband while working as a volunteer ambulance driver at Travis Air Force Base, where Shorenstein was stationed during World War II.<ref name=NYTObitPhyllis>Kathleen Teltsch (June 24, 1994). [https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/24/obituaries/phyllis-shorenstein-76-patron-of-asian-arts-in-san-francisco.html "Phyllis Shorenstein, 76, Patron Of Asian Arts in San Francisco"]. ''The New York Times''.</ref> Phyllis converted to Judaism.<ref>Steven Winn (October 31, 2004), [https://www.sfgate.com/magazine/article/Second-Acts-San-Francisco-s-Carole-Shorenstein-2639255.php "Second Acts / San Francisco's Carole Shorenstein Hays has built a career on Broadway by taking calculated risks"], ''San Francisco Chronicle Magazine''.</ref> Mrs. Shorenstein had a heart ailment and died in 1994 at the age 76 in San Francisco. They had three children:<ref name=NYTObitPhyllis /> *Joan Shorenstein (born 1947), his eldest daughter, a producer for the CBS Evening News and ''Face The Nation'', died of cancer in 1985. She was married to journalist Michael Barone. *Carole Shorenstein Hays (born 1948), a Broadway producer with whom he established three major theaters in San Francisco: the Orpheum, the Curran and the Golden Gate. *Douglas W. Shorenstein (born 1955) was chairman and chief executive of Shorenstein Properties. In 2010, he was appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Board of Directors. He died of cancer in 2015.<ref name=FRBSFChairman>[http://www.frbsf.org/our-district/press/news-releases/2010/shorenstein-chairman-san-francisco-board-directors-yarrington-deputy-chair-2011/ "Douglas W. Shorenstein Designated Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Board of Directors; Patricia E. Yarrington Designated Deputy Chair for 2011"]. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. July 23, 2010.</ref>
==Awards and honors== *1991: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}}</ref> *1997: University of Southern California’s Real Estate Hall of Fame *1997: Democratic National Committee’s Lifetime Achievement Award *1998: Bay Area Council’s Business Hall of Fame *2013: Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) establishes the Walter Shorenstein Fellowship in Media and Democracy
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shorenstein, Walter}} Category:1915 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American billionaires Category:American businesspeople in the real estate industry Category:Philanthropists from New York (state) Category:20th-century American Jews Category:People from Glen Cove, New York Category:Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:American landlords Walter Category:20th-century American philanthropists Category:21st-century American Jews Category:Members of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II