John Brademas

John Brademas
13th President of New York University
In office 1981–1991
Preceded by	John C. Sawhill
Succeeded by	L. Jay Oliva
19th Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives
In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1981
Speaker	Tip O'Neill
Preceded by	John J. McFall
Succeeded by	Tom Foley
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 3rd district
In office January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	F. Jay Nimtz
Succeeded by	John P. Hiler
Personal details
Born	Stephen John Brademas, Jr. (1927-03-02) March 2, 1927 Mishawaka, Indiana
Political party	Democratic Party
Alma mater	Harvard University Brasenose College, Oxford
Religion	Methodist

Stephen John Brademas, Jr. (born March 2, 1927) is an American politician and educator originally from Indiana. He served as Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives for the Democratic Party from 1977 to 1981 at the conclusion of a twenty-year career as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In addition to his major legislative accomplishments, including much federal legislation pertaining to schools, arts, and the humanities, he served as the 13th president of New York University from 1981 to 1992, and is a former chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and board member of the New York Stock Exchange and Rockefeller Foundation.

Early life and career

The oldest of four children, Brademas was born in 1927 to a Greek immigrant father and an American mother in Mishawaka, Indiana. His father ran a restaurant and his mother was an elementary school teacher. He spent summers with his maternal grandfather, who was the state superintendent of schools in Canada, and possessed a large library.

Brademas graduated as valedictorian from Central High School in South Bend, Indiana. He served two years in the U.S. Navy, stationed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A graduate of Harvard University, where he was affiliated with Adams House, he won a Rhodes Scholarship and attended Brasenose College University of Oxford, from which he received his Doctorate.

Congressional service

Brademas served as United States Representative in Congress from Indiana's 3rd congressional district for 22 years (1959–81), the last four as House majority whip. While in Congress he was a member of the Committee on Education and Labor, where he played a leading role in writing most of the federal legislation enacted during that time concerning schools, colleges and universities; services for the elderly and the handicapped; libraries and museums; and the arts and humanities.

Brademas holds the distinction of being the first Greek-American member of Congress, preceding, among others, Olympia Snowe, Paul Tsongas and Paul Sarbanes.

Cosponsor of the 1965 legislation creating the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Brademas for ten years chaired the congressional subcommittee with jurisdiction over them. He was chief House sponsor of the Arts, Humanities and Cultural Affairs Act; Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Act; Museum Services Act; Library Services and Construction Act; National Commission on Libraries and Information Services Act; Education for All Handicapped Children Act; Alcohol and Drug Abuse Education Act; and International Education Act. He was also a major co-author of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; the Higher Education Acts of 1972 and 1976, which focused on student aid; and the measure creating the National Institute of Education.

In December 1963, the Studebaker Corporation closed its South Bend, Indiana automobile manufacturing plants, putting more than 5,000 people out of work. Brademas was instrumental in helping the South Bend area recover from the Studebaker closing through his contacts in Washington. In 1964, after receiving an $81 million contract from the government, Kaiser Jeep Corporation purchased the Chippewa Avenue truck plant from Studebaker, and put a sizable number of people back to work building military and postal vehicles. Today, although the Chippewa plant is no longer in use, AM General, successor to Kaiser Jeep and American Motors Corporation, produces the military Humvee and the Hummer H1 and H2 in Mishawaka, Indiana, just east of South Bend. This would have been nearly impossible without the work of John Brademas in the mid-1960s. Brademas was defeated for reelection on November 4, 1980, by Republican John Hiler.

On October 3, 2011, the King of Spain bestowed on John Brademas the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: Orden de Isabel la Católica), a Spanish civil order granted in recognition of services that benefit the country.

Career in education

After leaving Congress, he moved to New York and served as president of New York University from 1981 to 1992. In 1990, he co-chaired the bipartisan independent commission mandated by Congress to review the grant-making procedures of the NEA. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton as chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and is also chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, as well as a member of the Consultants' Panel to the Comptroller General of the United States.

Film actress Paulette Goddard left her multimillion-dollar estate to New York University in large part due to her friendship with the much younger Brademas.

Foundations and boards

Brademas has served on a number of boards and national commissions or subjects ranging from the arts to higher education, foreign policy, jobs and small business, historic documents and records, and science, technology and government.

He is chairman of the American Ditchley Foundation and co-chairs the Center for Science, Technology and Congress at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C.

Former chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Brademas also served on the boards of Overseers of Harvard, New York Stock Exchange, Rockefeller Foundation and the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Athens. He serves on several corporate board as well as boards of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, American Council for the Arts, Center for National Policy and the Spanish Institute.

Brademas has been awarded honorary degrees by 47 colleges and universities. He has also received the annual Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. The Middle Common Room of Brasenose College, Oxford, is located in the Brademas Room, named after Brademas.

External links

• John Brademas at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Guide to the John Brademas Congressional Papers by New York University
• A film clip "The Open Mind - A Congressman Looks at Education (1981)" is available at the Internet Archive

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by F. Jay Nimtz	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 3rd congressional district 1959–1981	Succeeded by John P. Hiler
Party political offices
Preceded by John J. McFall	Democratic Whip of the United States House of Representatives, Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives 1977–1981	Succeeded by Thomas S. Foley
Academic offices
Preceded by John C. Sawhill	President of New York University 1981–1991	Succeeded by L. Jay Oliva