Chauncey Stillman

Chauncey Devereux Stillman
Chauncey Devereux Stillman
Born	November 9, 1907
Died	January 24, 1989 (aged 81)

Chauncey Devereux Stillman (November 9, 1907 – January 24, 1989) was an investor and a philanthropist. He held strong convictions about life, art, nature, and religious faith.^[1]

Early life[]

Stillman was the grandson of James Stillman, president of what became Citibank. His grandfather had five children, two of whom,Sarah Elizabeth "Elsie" Stillman and Isabel Goodrich Stillman, married in to the family of American businessman and financier William Rockefeller. Stilman's father, Charles Chauncey Stillman, died aboard the RMS Aquitania.

Stillman was a graduate of Harvard University class of 1929, where he was a member of Delphic Club. He graduated from the Columbia University School of Architecture. While at Columbia, he joined St. Anthony Hall.

Career[]

Stillman served as a squadron air combat intelligence officer during World War II on the USS Enterprise, and later served as a staff officer with the National Security Council.

He served as a director of Freeport-McMoRan beginning in December 1931.

Stillman was an investor and supporter of Ralph Borsodi, with whom he shared an interest in decentralism. Stillman dedicated his life to philanthropy, and was an advocate of homesteading.^[2] He was a trustee of the New York Zoological Society for almost thirty years and was a director of the National Audubon Society and the New York Botanical Garden. In the 1960s Stillman was a commodore of the New York Yacht Club. He founded the Wethersfield Institute, which sponsors religious seminars.

Personal life[]

His country estate "Wethersfield," near Amenia, New York, in Dutchess County, is a historic landmark and is open to the public during the summer by appointment. It occupies over 1,000 acres and is renowned for its gardens and art collection.

Stillman Dormitory at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts is named in his honor^[3] for his work with the College and the wider work of Catholic intellectual discourse.

Chauncey Stillman Professor of Sephardic Law and Ethics, Bar Ilan University, Tel Aviv, Israel, was created in his honor^[4] by the Homeland Foundation in 2005. As of 2014, the professorship was held by Prof. Zvi Zohar^[5] of Shalom Hartman Institute.