Honoree-
Edmund T. Pratt Jr.

Edmund T. Pratt Jr.’s long and successful career spans nearly half a century. He earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Duke University in 1947, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. In 1949, he completed his graduate studies, earning an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business. That same year, he joined IBM, serving in numerous executive slots for the next 14 years. He was appointed assistant secretary of the Army for Financial Management in 1962, holding this post for two years. In 1964, he joined Pfizer Inc, as controller, rising to become the company’s CEO in 1972. He held this position for nearly 20 years until his retirement in 1992.

Mr. Pratt has served on the boards of a wide range of Fortune 500 companies including: Pfizer; General Motors; Chase; and International Paper Company. In addition, for two years, he chaired the Business Roundtable, a Washington, D.C. based public policy association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. corporations.

Mr. Pratt’s association with the University began in the early 1970s when one of his sons took courses at C.W. Post. His son Randolf graduated from the campus in 1976. In 1995, Mr. Pratt made a gift of $300,000 to name the Pratt Lecture Hall in the Zeckendorf Health Sciences Center on the Brooklyn Campus. He joined the Long Island University board of trustees in 1998. That same year, he and his wife, Jeanette, contributed $12 million to the institution, the largest single gift in its history. This gift has been used to finance construction of the Jeanette and Edmund T. Pratt Jr. Recreation Center on the C.W. Post Campus; the Jeanette and Edmund T. Pratt Jr. Center for Academic Studies on the Brooklyn Campus; and the renovation and renaming of Southampton Hall on the Southampton College campus. Mr. Pratt credits his strong admiration for the University and its mission of leadership as being the driving force of his generosity. He is deeply moved by its commencement ceremonies and hopes for the University’s continued growth and success.

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