Real-Estate Investment, Development, Consulting
Civic Timeline
1930
Philip M. Klutznick (PMK), son of Eastern European emigrants, obtains a Juris Doctorate from Omaha’s Creighton University Law School.
1933
PMK serves as an assistant city attorney in Omaha. In response to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal relief programs, PMK travels to
Washington, where he petitions for and is granted federal aid for two new housing projects.
1938
PMK is instrumental in creating the Omaha Housing Authority, authoring the Nebraska Housing Authorities Law and successfully arguing its constitutionality before the Nebraska Supreme Court.
1941
PMK moves to Washington to work for the Defense Housing Authority, coordinating model housing communities for defense factory workers in the
Midwest and South.
1944
President Roosevelt names PMK Commissioner of the Federal Public Housing Authority.
1945
President Harry S. Truman asks PMK to stay on as the nation’s housing czar. PMK implements plans to ease postwar housing shortages for returning veterans.
1948
Illinois Governor Adlai E. Stevenson appoints PMK vice chairman of the state’s housing authority.
1953
PMK becomes president of B’nai B’rith, the oldest continually operating Jewish service and welfare organization in the world.
1957
President Dwight D. Eisenhower names PMK to the U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly.
Construction begins on the Israeli port city of Ashdod of which PMK is a prime mover.
The B’nai B’rith Philip and Ethel Klutznick Exhibit Hall is established in Washington. Known today as the Klutznick National Jewish Museum, the
institution seeks to enhance worldwide understanding of Jewish culture through the display of distinctive art collections and the preservation of
cultural artifacts.
Real-Estate Investment, Development, Consulting
Civic Timeline
1961
President John F. Kennedy appoints PMK to the United Nations Economic and Social Council with the rank of ambassador.
PMK’s eldest son, Thomas J. Klutznick (TJK), graduates from Oberlin College with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics.
1964
PMK elected to the Board of Trustees of the Committee for Economic Development, a research and policy organization formed by business leaders
to foster economic growth, high employment, stable prices, increased productivity and better living standards.
1970
The law library at Omaha’s Creighton University is named the Klutznick Law Library in honor of PMK’s contribution to his alma mater.
1975
President Gerald R. Ford appoints PMK to an advisory committee to facilitate the resettlement of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees in the
United States.
TJK becomes a member of the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Oberlin College.
1977
PMK elected president of the World Jewish Congress.
1978
At the invitation of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, PMK travels to Cairo to review Egypt’s new-town planning efforts.
1979
President Jimmy Carter names PMK to his Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce.
1983
TJK elected to the Chairman’s Roundtable of the National Realty Committee.
1985
TJK appointed to the Committee on National Urban Policy of the National Research Council.
TJK named a trustee of Resources for the Future, a nonprofit research organization seeking to improve environmental, energy and natural-resource
policies worldwide.
Real-Estate Investment, Development, Consulting
Civic Timeline
1986
The Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Chair in Jewish Civilization is established at Northwestern University’s Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies.
The Philip M. and Ethel Klutznick Lectureship in Jewish Studies is inaugurated through an endowment to the university.
TJK elected to the Board of Trustees of the National Building Museum, created by Congress to commemorate achievements in architecture, design
and engineering, and to encourage excellence in the building arts.
1987
PMK receives the M. Justin Herman Memorial Award from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials and is cited as the
nation’s “father of public housing.”
1989
TJK establishes The Institute for Metropolitan Affairs at Chicago’s Roosevelt University as a public policy research facility impacting residents and
organizations in the Chicago metropolitan area.
1990
TJK elected to the Board of Trustees of the Committee for Economic Development.
1991
PMK publishes “Angles of Vision: Memoirs of My Lives,” detailing his roles as public servant, real-estate entrepreneur and Jewish community leader,
and recounting his service in the administrations of six U.S. presidents.
1992
TJK elected to the Board of Directors of Yosemite Restoration Trust, a group of business leaders, park professionals and conservationists whose
vision for Yosemite National Park includes a ban on private cars and limitation on commercial facilities.
1994
TJK delivers a major address to the Board of Trustees of Resources for the Future on “the impact of human behavior on life as we know it” and
projected forward to 2030.
1999
PMK dies August 14.
TJK becomes chairman of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees.
Real-Estate Investment, Development, Consulting
Civic Timeline
2001
TJK endows The Thomas J. Klutznick Chair at Resources for the Future “to help policymakers in particular and society in general understand the
complex relationship among urban development, land-use planning, transportation and the environment.”
TJK publishes “Planet Earth,” an essay on the state of the planet and the perils it faces unless corrective action is taken.
2003
TJK co-authors “Whither America?,” an essay examining where the nation is headed based on behavioral, sociological and cultural criteria.
2005
TJK becomes a major financial backer of President Carter’s efforts, through The Carter Center, to rid Africa of the Guinea worm scourge.