- John Brademas
John Brademas, Ph.D., (b.
March 2 ,1927 ) is an Americanpolitician andeducator originally fromIndiana . He served as Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives for theUnited States Democratic Party from 1977 to 1981 at the conclusion of a twenty-year career as a member of theUnited States House of Representatives . In addition to his major legislative accomplishments, including much federal legislation pertaining to schools, arts, and the humanities, he served as the 13th president ofNew York University from 1981 to 1992, and is a former chairman of the board of theFederal Reserve Bank of New York , and board member of theNew York Stock Exchange andRockefeller Foundation .Early life and career
The oldest of four children, Brademas was born in 1927 to a Greek immigrant father and an American mother in
Mishawaka, Indiana . His father ran a restaurant and his mother was an elementary school teacher. His love of learning and books was nourished early by summers spent with his maternal grandfather, who was the state superintendent of schools in Indiana, and possessed a large library.Brademas graduated as valedectorian from Central High School inSouth Bend, Indiana . He served 2 years in the U.S. Navy, stationed inBiloxi, Mississippi . A graduate ofHarvard University , he won aRhodes Scholar ship and attendedBrasenose College University of Oxford , from which he received his Doctorate.Congressional service
Dr. Brademas served as United States Representative in Congress from
Indiana's 3rd congressional district for 22 years (1959–81), the last four as House majority whip. While in Congress he was a member of the Committee on Education and Labor, where he played a leading role in writing most of the federal legislation enacted during that time concerning schools, colleges and universities; services for the elderly and the handicapped; libraries and museums; and the arts and humanities.Brademas holds the distinction of being the first Greek-American member of Congress, paving the way for, among others,
Olympia Snowe ,Paul Tsongas andPaul Sarbanes .Cosponsor of the 1965 legislation creating the
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and theNational Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Dr. Brademas for ten years chaired the congressional subcommittee with jurisdiction over them. He was chief House sponsor of the Arts, Humanities and Cultural Affairs Act; Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Act; Museum Services Act; Library Services and Construction Act; National Commission on Libraries and Information Services Act; Education for All Handicapped Children Act; Alcohol and Drug Abuse Education Act; and International Education Act. He was also a major co-author of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; the Higher Education Acts of 1972 and 1976, which focused on student aid; and the measure creating theNational Institute of Education .Brademas was also a booster of his district, coming to bat when times were hard. In December 1963, the
Studebaker Corporation closed itsSouth Bend, Indiana automobile manufacturing plants, putting more than 5,000 people out of work. Brademas was instrumental in helping the South Bend area recover from the Studebaker closing through his contacts in Washington. In 1964, after receiving an $81 million contract from the government,Kaiser Jeep Corporation purchased the Chippewa Avenue truck plant from Studebaker, and put a sizable number of people back to work building military and postal vehicles. Today, although the Chippewa plant is no longer in use,AM General , successor to Kaiser Jeep andAmerican Motors Corporation , produces the militaryHumvee and theHummer H1 and H2 inMishawaka, Indiana , just east of South Bend. This would have been nearly impossible without the work of John Brademas in the mid-1960s. Mr. Brademas was defeated for reelection on November 4, 1980, by RepublicanJohn Hiler .Career in education
After leaving Congress, he moved to
New York and served as president ofNew York University from 1981 to 1992. In 1990, he co-chaired the bipartisan independent commission mandated by Congress to review the grant-making procedures of the NEA. He was appointed by PresidentBill Clinton as chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and is also chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, as well as a member of the Consultants' Panel to theComptroller General of the United States .Film actress
Paulette Goddard left her multi-million dollar estate to NYU in large part due to her friendship with the much younger Brademas.Foundations and boards
Dr. Brademas has served on a number of boards and national commissions or subjects ranging from the arts to higher education, foreign policy, jobs and small business, historic documents and records, and science, technology and government.
He is chairman of the
American Ditchley Foundation and co-chairs the Center for Science, Technology and Congress at theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C.Former chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Dr. Brademas also served on the boards of Overseers of Harvard,
New York Stock Exchange ,Rockefeller Foundation and the Central Committee of theWorld Council of Churches . He is a fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences and theAcademy of Athens . He serves on several corporate board as well as boards of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, American Council for the Arts,Center for National Policy and the Spanish Institute.Dr. Brademas has been awarded honorary degrees by 47 colleges and universities. He has also received the annual Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
References
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