John L. Loeb, Jr.: Businessman, Public Servant, Philanthropist

Ambassador John L. Loeb, Jr. earned his BA cum laude in 1952 from Harvard College and, in 1954, received his MBA from the Harvard Business School. He was a senior partner in Loeb, Rhoades & Co. from 1956 to 1976 and chairman of the Board of Holly Sugar from 1969 to 1971. He has served as a director of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Rio Grande Industries and John Morrell & Co., among other corporations.

His public career includes his service as U.S. Ambassador to Denmark from 1981 to 1983 and delegate to the 38th Session of the UN General Assembly. An advisor to Governor Nelson Rockefeller on Environmental and Economic Affairs from 1967 to 1970, he served as chairman of the Governor’s New York State Council of Environmental Advisors from 1970 to 1975.

He is the founder and chairman of the Loeb Institute and chairman of Loeb, Rhoades Trust. He was trustee of the American University and served on numerous Harvard visiting committees, including John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Business School.

Ambassador Loeb currently serves as chairman of the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States and the John L. Loeb, Jr. Foundation. He is a vice chairman of the Council of American Ambassadors and an executive trustee of the American Scandinavian Foundation and a member of its investment committee. He served for almost 40 years as a trustee and five years as chairman of the Langeloth Foundation.

Among his numerous awards and recognitions are the Justice Louis D. Brandeis Award, the Distinguished Patriot Award of the Sons of the American Revolution and the John Clarke Laureate of the John Clarke Society. He received the designation of C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994 for his work with the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States. Ambassador Loeb is also a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Dannebrog, received from Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. He holds an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Georgetown University. He is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars and the Sons of the American Revolution.

Ambassador Loeb received the 2015 Emma Lazarus Statue of Liberty Award from the American Jewish Historical Society for his work promoting religious freedom, and President George H.W. Bush lauded his work. He is a descendant of Emma Lazarus, a poet whose sonnet is engraved in the Statue of Liberty.

In 2016, Ambassador Loeb donated a generous gift to establish a religious freedom institute within Columbian College to foster dialogue on religious understanding. Learn more about the $2.5 million gift that established the Loeb Institute for Religious Freedom and Democracy at GW.