Arthur Ochs Sulzberger

This article is about the newspaper publisher born in 1926. For his son, see Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger
Born (1926-02-05)February 5, 1926
New York City, New York
Died September 29, 2012(2012-09-29) (aged 86)
Southampton, New York
Nationality American
Other names Punch
Alma mater Columbia University
Occupation Newspaper publisher
Years active 1963–1997
Known for publishing The Pentagon Papers
Publisher of The New York Times
Spouse(s)
  • Barbara Winslow Grant (m. 1948; div. 1956)
  • Carol Fox Fuhrman (m. 1956; d. 1995)
  • Allison S. Cowles (m. 1996; d. 2010)
Children
Parent(s)
Relatives Adolph Ochs (grandfather)
Isaac Mayer Wise (great-grandfather)
Awards Pulitzer Prize

Arthur Ochs "Punch" Sulzberger Sr. (February 5, 1926 – September 29, 2012) was an American publisher and a businessman.

Born into a prominent media and publishing family, Sulzberger became Publisher of The New York Times and Chairman of the Board of The New York Times Company in 1963. Sulzberger relinquished to his son, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., the Office of Publisher in 1992, and Chairman of the Board in 1997.

Early life and education

Sulzberger was born on February 5, 1926, in New York City to Jewish parents Arthur Hays Sulzberger and Iphigene Bertha Ochs (daughter of Adolph Ochs, the former publisher and owner of The New York Times and the Chattanooga Times[1] and granddaughter of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise).[2][3] Sulzberger graduated from the Loomis Institute, and then enlisted into the United States Marine Corps during World War II, serving from 1944 to 1946, in the Pacific Theater. He earned a B.A. degree in English and History in 1951 at Columbia University. As a member of the Marine Forces Reserve he was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. Following completion of officer training, he saw duty in Korea and then in Washington, D.C., before being inactivated.

Publisher of The New York Times

Sulzberger became publisher of The New York Times in 1963, after the death of his sister Marian's husband, Orvil Dryfoos, who had been publisher for less than two years. Sulzberger was 37 at the time, the youngest publisher in Times history. Prior to Dryfoos, Sulzberger's father, Arthur Hays Sulzberger, and maternal grandfather, Adolph Ochs, were the publishers, and also the chairs of the board of The New York Times Company.[4]

In the 1960s Sulzberger built a large news-gathering staff at The Times, and was publisher when the newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for publishing The Pentagon Papers. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1988.[5] His son Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. succeeded him as the newspaper's publisher in 1992. Sulzberger remained chairman of The New York Times Company until October 1997.

Personal life and death

Sulzberger was married three times. In 1948, he married Barbara Winslow Grant (of mostly Scottish and English heritage)[6] in a civil ceremony at her parents' home in Purchase, New York.[7] He divorced in 1956,[8] and married Carol Fox Fuhrman in December 1956. She died in 1995.[4] In 1996, he married Allison Stacey Cowles, widow of William H. Cowles, 3rd. (died 1992), who was part of the Cowles family which owns The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Wash.[9][10]

In 2005, the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) honored Sulzberger with the Katharine Graham Lifetime Achievement Award.[11] Sulzberger dedicated the Wellesley College pub, aptly named "Punch's Alley," in honor of his wife, Allison, a class of 1955 Wellesley alum.[12][13]

Sulzberger died of a brain hemorrhage at his home on September 29, 2012.[4][14] He was 86.

Publication of the Pentagon Papers

"Eventually, Sulzberger, then in London, rejecting the views of some of his colleagues in senior management as well as the dire warnings of his outside counsel, made the call to accept the risks of publication rather than those of silence. On Sunday, June 13, [1971], the Times published the first in a series of seven articles about the Pentagon Papers. In retrospect, the decision may seem obvious, but it was by no means an easy one at the time, and it remains one for which Sulzberger deserves enormous credit."

Floyd Abrams[15]

References

  1. ↑ New York Times: "Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger Is Dead; Central Figure in Times's History" February 27, 1990
  2. ↑ American Jewish Archives: "A Finding Aid to the Isaac Mayer Wise Papers. 1838-1931 - Manuscript Collection No. 436" retrieved September 27, 2015
  3. ↑ May, Max Benjamin (1992). Isaac Mayer Wise: The Founder of American Judaism; a Biography. Littman Library Of Jewish Civilization. p. 380. ISBN 978-0197100592.
  4. 1 2 3 Haberman, Clyde (September 29, 2012). "Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, 1926 - 2012: Publisher Who Transformed The Times for New Era". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter S" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  6. ↑ New England Historic Genealogical Society - American Ancestors: #42 Royal Descents, Notable Kin, and Printed Sources: Yankee Ancestors, Mayflower Lines, and Royal Descents and Connections of Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. by Gary Boyd Roberts; dated December 1, 1999
  7. ↑ Barbara W. Grant Is Bride In Garden" New York Times, (July 3, 1948), p. 7
  8. ↑ New Yorker Magazine: "Old Times, New Times" by Edwin Diamond September 30, 1991
  9. ↑ Kershner, Jim. "Allison Cowles dies at 75". The Spokesman-Review. April 25, 2010. http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/apr/25/allison-cowles-dies-75/
  10. ↑ New York Times: "WEDDINGS;Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Allison Stacey Cowles" March 10, 1996
  11. ↑ "Former Times Publisher Wins Newspaper Award". The New York Times. April 4, 2005. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
  12. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/punchsalley
  13. ↑ http://www.wellesley.edu/reslife/dining/facilities/node/6237
  14. ↑ "New York Times ex-chief Arthur Sulzberger Sr dies". BBC News. September 29, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
  15. ↑ Floyd Abrams, Speaking Freely, published by Viking Press (2005), Page 12.
Business positions
Preceded by
Orvil Dryfoos		 The New York Times Company Publisher
1963–1992 		Succeeded by
Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.
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