Willard Hackerman
{{Short description|American businessman}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Willard Hackerman
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = October 6, 1918
| birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland
| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|2|10|1918|10|6}}
| death_place = Baltimore, Maryland
| occupation = CEO, Engineer, philanthropist
| spouse = Lillian Patz
| children = Steven Hackerman
Nancy Hackerman
| net_worth =
}}
Willard Hackerman (October 6, 1918 – February 10, 2014) was an American businessman, long-time CEO of major construction firm Whiting-Turner, and philanthropist based in Baltimore, Maryland.
Biography
Willard Hackerman was president and CEO of The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company and a prominent Baltimore philanthropist. Hackerman grew up in Baltimore Maryland and attended the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, a public high school known for its engineering program. He graduated from the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied civil engineering. In 1938 he started his career at Whiting-Turner where he worked until his death in 2014. Upon his death the Baltimore Sun said that while he held no public office, he was as much a city father to Baltimore as any mayor or City Council member, delegate or senator. "Few, if any, have had a larger impact on the community."{{Cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-hackerman-20140210-story.html|title=Baltimore Sun : Baltimore's man to see [Editorial] FEB 10, 2014 |date=10 February 2014 | access-date=2020-05-31}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/obituaries/bs-ob-willard-hackerman-20140210-story.html|title=Baltimore Sun : "Willard Hackerman, company president and philanthropist, dies" FEB 10, 2014 |date=10 February 2014 | access-date=2020-05-31}}
Hackerman was influential in politics, being close ally of Baltimore mayor and later Maryland governor William Shaefer.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/willard-hackerman-baltimore-builder-who-was-chief-executive-of-whiting-turner-dies-at-95/2014/02/13/e2dc320e-9418-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.html|title=Washington Post: Willard Hackerman, Baltimore builder who was chief executive of Whiting-Turner, dies at 95 [Obituary February 13, 2014]|newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=2020-06-13}}
Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
Virtually his entire working life of 75 years Hackerman was the head of The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company. Major projects of the company included Baltimore's Convention Center, Harborplace and its aquarium{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/willard-hackerman-baltimore-builder-who-was-chief-executive-of-whiting-turner-dies-at-95/2014/02/13/e2dc320e-9418-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.html|title=Washington Post: Willard Hackerman, Baltimore builder who was chief executive of Whiting-Turner, dies at 95 [Obituary February 13, 2014]|newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=2020-06-13}}
In 2020 it was #37 on Forbes Magazine's List of America's Largest Private Companies,{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/largest-private-companies/list/|title=Forbes America's Largest Private Companies|website=Forbes | access-date=2020-12-22}} when it had US$10.3 billion in revenues and 4,090 employees.
Philanthropy
He personally or through his company, made a number of significant philanthropic gifts. Through his company, Whiting Turner, he gave over a million dollars to Catholic schools primarily for tuition assistance scholarships.{{Cite web|url=https://www.archbalt.org/hackerman-remembered-as-supporter-of-catholic-education/|title=Catholic Review: "Hackerman remembered as supporter of Catholic education" FEBRUARY 12, 2014|date=12 February 2014 | access-date=2020-06-01}}
The G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University received a $5 million gift in 2005 to endow a scholarship fund for graduates.{{Cite web|url=https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/johns-hopkins-engineering-school-receives-5-million-for-scholarship-fund|title= philanthropynewsdigest.org Johns Hopkins Engineering School Receives $5 Million for Scholarship Fund, FEBRUARY 27, 2005| access-date=2020-06-01}}
Hackerman and his wife Lillian Patz Hackerman, endowed the Willard and Lillian Hackerman Chair in Radiation Oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the Willard and Lillian Hackerman Chair in Engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC),{{Cite web|url=https://www.csee.umbc.edu/~finin/|title=Tim Finin Willard and Lillian Hackerman Chair in Engineering Computer Science and Electrical Engineering| access-date=2020-06-11}} and created the Hackerman-Patz Patient and Family Pavilion at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. There are also other endowments in his name such as the Willard Hackerman Scholarship{{Cite web|url=https://www.towson.edu/fcsm/scholarships/whackerman.html|title=The Willard Hackerman Scholarship| access-date=2020-06-09}} and the Willard Hackerman Academy of Mathematics and Science at Towson University. Hackerman owned a collection of significant antique Maryland and Baltimore maps. In 2017, after his death his family presented the Hackerman Map Collection of about 60 from between the 16th and mid-19th centuries{{cite news |last=Campbell |first=Colin |title=Wills of state's celebrities show wealth, interests|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/investigations/bs-md-sun-investigates-0316-20140322-story.html|publisher=Baltimore Sun |date=2014-03-22|access-date=2020-06-14}} to the Sheridan libraries of Johns Hopkins University.{{Cite web|url=https://guides.library.jhu.edu/gis/maps|title=Map Collections at Johns Hopkins| access-date=2020-06-11}}
The Hackermans also purchased a Mount Vernon Place mansion and donated it to the Walters Art Museum, upon which it was renamed Hackerman House Walters Art Museum#Hackerman House (1850/1991) which now includes the museum's collection of Asian art.{{Cite web|url=https://jewishtimes.com/19078/willard-hackerman/news/local-news/|title=Baltimore Jewish Times, obituary February 12, 2014|date=12 February 2014 | access-date=2020-06-04}}
In 2010, the Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital began $31 million construction project to which Willard Hackerman pledged $5 million.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newswise.com/articles/levindale-builds-multi-million-dollar-home-for-elderly|title=Newswise: "Levindale Builds Multi-Million Dollar Home for Elderly" 22-Sep-2010| access-date=2020-06-04}}
He was a Charter Member of Support for the National Archives Experience with a gift of $1,000,000 or more{{Cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2005/nr05-04.html|title=Press Release October 14, 2004 "National Archives' Opens Major Permanent Exhibition On November 12, 2004|date=15 August 2016 | access-date=2020-06-05}}
2004 Prologue: The Journal of the National Archives, Volume 36