Edward E. Ford Foundation

Edward E. Ford, a successful businessman involved in the early years of IBM, established the Foundation on December 12, 1957. Its main objective was to improve the quality of high school education with particular emphasis on private schools.{{Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Sem to Use Funds for Faculty Salaries | newspaper = The Scranton Tribune | pages = 2 | year = | date = January 1, 1975 | url = }} When he died in 1963, Ford bequeathed about $50 million to the Foundation.{{Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Ex-Binghamton Man Leaves Estate Rated At Above $8 Million | newspaper = Wellsville Daily Reporter | pages = 10 | year = | date = July 25, 1963 | url = }}

The Foundation initially directed much of its efforts toward supporting Ford's high school alma mater, Mercersburg Academy. This included a $1.5 million matching grant in 1964, the highest such matching gift to any American private school at that time.{{Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Mercersburg Offered $1.5 Million Matching Grant For Expansion | newspaper = York Daily Record | pages = 19 | year = | date = December 11, 1964 | url = }} As of 2023 the Foundation had contributed over $125 million in total grants to nearly 1,000 independent schools and associations.{{Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Edward E. Ford Foundation | newspaper = Inside Philanthropy | pages = | year = 2023 | date = | url = https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-for-k-12-education/ford-foundation-grants-for-k-12-education.html}}

The Foundation’s mission "is to strengthen and support independent secondary schools and to challenge and inspire them to leverage their unique talents, expertise, and resources to advance teaching while encouraging collaboration with other institutions."{{Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Waynflete receives major grant from Edward E. Ford Foundation | newspaper = Press release| pages = | year = | date = April 11, 2019 | url = https://www.waynflete.org/blog/waynflete-receives-major-grant-from-edward-e-ford-foundation}}

The Foundation’s Leadership Grant Program is among the most prestigious awards available to independent schools.

{{Infobox person

| name = Edward E. Ford

| image = File:Edward_E._Ford_stock_photo.png

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| birth_date = 1894

| birth_place = Binghamton, New York

| death_date = {{death year and age|1963|1894}}

| death_place = Delray Beach, Florida

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| known_for = Business and philanthropy

| education = Princeton University

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Edward E. Ford (1894–1963) was a businessman and philanthropist from Binghamton, New York.{{Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Millionaire Ford Dies at 68 | newspaper = Press and Sun-Bulletin| pages = 3 | year = | date = March 6, 1963 | url = }}

The son of IBM co-founder A. Ward Ford, Ford attended Mercersburg Academy (class of 1912), Princeton University, and Lafayette College.{{Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Edward E. Ford Fund Gives Cash To Academy | newspaper = Press and Sun-Bulletin | pages = 12 | year = | date = September 16, 1964 | url = }}

After college Ford established and developed a manufacturing business in Binghamton, New York, which was ultimately became part of IBM. Joining IBM in 1917 as a junior salesman, Ford ascended to the role of division vice-president by 1936. Ford later ventured into independent business in St. Louis, Missouri and later in Florida. His businesses in St. Louis included a Chevrolet dealership.{{Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = New Dealer for Chevrolet | newspaper = St. Louis Globe-Democrat | pages = 2 | year = | date = December 6, 1936 | url = }}

In 1949, Ford was elected an IBM director, and by 1962, Ford's holdings in IBM stock amounted to about $61 million.

In the late 1950s, Ford donated $350,000 to Mercersburg Academy for its building and development programs.

In 1957, he established the Edward E. Ford Foundation with the primary goal of improving the quality of high school education with particular emphasis on private schools.{{Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Sem to Use Funds for Faculty Salaries | newspaper = The Scranton Tribune | pages = 2 | year = | date = January 1, 1975 | url = }}

Ford's first wife Jane Bloomer died in Delray Beach, Florida in 1960. He later married Mrs. Edward (Jane) Jamison of New York City. On March 5, 1963, Ford died in his sleep at his home in Delray Beach, Florida.

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Category:Educational institutions established in 1957

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Category:1957 establishments in New York (state)