Beginning his professional career in 1948 by working with the Rockefeller family’s philanthropic interests, corporate executive Dr. Clifton Wharton Jr. achieved a flurry of firsts before becoming the first Black CEO at a Fortune 500 company.
Wharton, now 95, entered Harvard University at 16, before shortly leaving with a degree in 1947. He received a Master of Arts and Ph.D in economics from the University of Chicago, and was the first Black student to earn a Masters of Arts degree in International Affairs from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
Here are six lesser-known facts about the pioneering economist:
- He became the first Black man to receive a Ph.D in economics from the University of Chicago.
- Wharton specialized in economic development in Latin America, alongside Nelson A. Rockefeller.
- In 1970, he was named the first Black president of Michigan State University.
- In 1987, he became the first Black CEO at TIAA-CREF, which operates the world’s largest pension fund, holding assets of $260 billion.
- Wharton was U.S. Deputy Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton in 1993
- In 2015, he released an autobiography titled, "Privilege and Prejudice: The Life of a Black Pioneer."
Photo via Wikimedia.
