Robert Somers Brookings

Brookings, Robert Somers, 1850–1932, American businessman and philanthropist, b. Cecil co., Md. He earned a fortune in business in St. Louis, Mo., and retired in 1897 to devote himself to philanthropy. As chairman of the corporation of Washington Univ. from 1897 to 1914 he was primarily responsible for the rebuilding of that institution. He founded the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

See biography by H. Hagedorn (1936).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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