Philip Morris Klutznick

Philip Morris Klutznick (July 9, 1907 – August 14, 1999) was a U.S. administrator who served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce from January 9, 1980 to January 19, 1981 under President Jimmy Carter.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he was the chief developer of the village of Park Forest, Illinois, a planned post World War II community in south Cook County, Illinois.

Klutznick and his company American Community Builders (ACB) went on to work in partnership with Marshall Field's department stores, building major shopping malls in the Chicago suburbs, including Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie, Illinois in 1955-1956 and Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook, Illinois in 1959. In 1962, he sold his shares in ACB and with his son Tom formed Klutznick Enterprises, soon to be replaced by KLC Ventures, Ltd., a partnership with longtime associates Ferd Kramer, Jerrold Loebl, Norman Cohn and Lester Crown. KLC built and managed commercial properties in the Chicago area and in Denver.

In 1968, KLC was succeeded by Urban Investment and Development Company, which gained substantial capital when purchased by Aetna Life and Casualty Company in 1970. Klutznick retired as Chairman and CEO of Urban in 1972, but remained active in many business ventures, most notably the development of Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago.

Secretary Klutznik died from Alzheimer's Disease on August 14, 1999 in Chicago, Illinois.

Klutznick was also a major leader of the American Jewish community. He served in his youth as the president of the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) and, subsequently, as that organization's first staff director. Years later he was the president of B'nai B'rith International and briefly also president of the World Jewish Congress.