John R. Hunting

{{Infobox person

| name = John R. Hunting

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1931|11|7}}

| birth_place = Grand Rapids, Michigan

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| nationality = American

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|alma_mater=University of Michigan

| occupation = Democratic activist
Philanthropist

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| parents = Mary Ives Hunting
David Dyer Hunting Sr.

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John R. Hunting (born November 7, 1931) is a philanthropist who is the son of David D. Hunting, founder of Steelcase, an office furniture manufacture based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2006 he was noted as a major contributor to liberal or progressive 527 organizations.{{cite news |date=October 30, 2006 |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2006/oct/30/nation/na-donors30/2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120911151718/http://articles.latimes.com/2006/oct/30/nation/na-donors30/2 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 11, 2012 |title=Unregulated Groups Wield Millions To Sway Voters |author=Stephanie Simon |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}[https://www.cfinst.org/pr/pdf/527/527-12G_Table2.pdf The Campaign Finance Institute] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910125753/http://www.cfinst.org/pr/pdf/527/527-12G_Table2.pdf |date=2016-09-10 }}[https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/donor_detail.php?cycle=2004&id=U0000000248&type=I&super=N&name=Hunting%2C+John+R. Open Secrets] He was also the President of the Beldon Fund,[http://www.beldon.org/beldon/about/default.asp?PageName=trustees Beldon Fund trustees list] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703121618/http://www.beldon.org/beldon/about/default.asp?PageName=trustees |date=2007-07-03 }} which was an environmental fund that ceased to exist.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/us/29fund.html?_r=0 |title=Environmental Foundation Expires, as It Always Wanted |author=Stephanie Strom |newspaper=The New York Times |date=May 29, 2009}} He is particularly active on environmental causes,{{cite news |title=Profile: League of Conservation Voters |date=September 9, 2008 |author=Will Evans |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94411562 |publisher=NPR}}{{cite news |author=Glen Elsasser |title=Washington house is study in 'green' |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jF4zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2gcGAAAAIBAJ&pg=6888,3694730&dq= |newspaper=The Free Lance-Star |location=Fredericksburg, Virginia |date=October 18, 1996}} and also funds other progressive causes including EMILY's List.

Biography

John R. Hunting was born to an Episcopalian family on November 7, 1931, at Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Mary (née Ives) and David Dyer Hunting Sr.{{Cite web|first= |last= |authorlink= |title=Hunting, John - John is a member of the third generation of the Hunting family that is successful and influential in the furniture industry and philanthropy in Grand Rapids. The Hunting family gave the lead gift in honor of David Hunting, Sr. for the downtown Grand Rapids YMCA that opened in July 2005. |publisher=Learning To Give Foundation|date= |url=https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/hunting-john |accessdate=July 12, 2019}} His father was a co-founder of Steelcase. He went to school in East Grand Rapids, Michigan and later at the Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan but was drafted and spent two years in the United States Army. After his service, he graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in guidance counseling and accepted a job at the Cranbrook academy as a teacher.

Hunting along with George Soros and other Democracy Alliance members Gail Furman; Paul Rudd (co-founder of Adaptive Analytics); Pat Stryker; Nicholas Hanauer; ex-Clinton administration official Rob Stein; Drummond Pike; real estate developer Robert Bowditch; Pioneer Hybrid International-heir and congressional candidate Scott Wallace; Susie Tompkins Buell; real estate developer Albert Dwoskin; and Taco Bell-heir Rob McKay, funded the Secretary of State Project, an American non-profit, 527 political action committee focused on electing reform-minded progressive Secretaries of State in battleground states, who typically oversee the election process.{{Cite web|first=Chuck |last=Neubauer |authorlink= |title= Soros and liberal groups seeking top election posts in battleground states |work=Washington Times|date= June 23, 2011 |url= https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/23/section-527-works-to-seat-liberals-as-election-ove/ |accessdate=}} The Alliance was critical in getting California Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie re-elected.

References

External links

[https://archives.iu.edu/catalog/mss085 Beldon Fund Records, 1954-2015] at Indiana University Indianapolis

Category:American philanthropists

Category:American abortion-rights activists

Category:American environmentalists

Category:Living people

Category:1931 births

Category:People from Grand Rapids, Michigan

Category:University of Michigan alumni