What’s in a Name? Drexel University’s Bennett S. LeBow
Often, life after an MBA can be unpredictable and not without controversy, as evidenced by Bennett S. LeBow.
The namesake of Philadelphia’s Drexel University LeBow College of Business came from a background of solid work ethics, giving him the drive to push through difficult circumstances that sometimes stood in the way of his success.
LeBow’s connections in the City of Brotherly Love run deep. After attending West Philadelphia High School, he went on to earn an undergrad degree in electrical engineering from Drexel during the mid-1960s. While at Drexel, he met his wife, Geraldine, who was then a student at Temple. They later married and stayed together for the next 52 years until Geraldine’s death in 2011.
LeBow went on to pursue his post-graduate studies at Princeton University. It was during this time at that he decided to leave school and join the U.S. Army, where he promptly applied his skills to become an early version of an IT manager, working as a systems engineer for the Pentagon.
This work would ultimately help LeBow realize his talents even more fully as an entrepreneur. He left the government sector to form a private company in order to continue his Pentagon project. LeBow continued to use his skills in innovation when he sold that company in order to become an investor. One could say that he was the first to combine engineering and business skills to become an early pioneer of the startup movement.
He formed a holding company that enabled him to diversify his investments, which included a trading card company, Sky Box International, later sold to Marvel; Western Union, and perhaps most controversially, the Liggett Group. Liggett was the fifth-largest cigarette production company in the world at the time.
This would prove to be a pivotal yet relatively difficult move for LeBow. Liggett, under LeBow’s leadership, was involved in the much maligned tobacco settlements of the early 90s, which saw defendants failing to admit that they were at fault for promoting a product that leads directly to cancer and heart disease.
Despite these bumps in the road of his career, LeBow was not deterred. He continued to helm his holding company, the Vector Group, which was named by Forbes in 2013 as one of “America’s Most Trustworthy Companies.” Vector holds several subsidiaries that engage in various lines of business, from marketing to production of ‘reduced-risk’ cigarette products. The company also has real estate holdings and investments in ventures ranging from biopharma to sustainable construction products.
It was in 1988 that Drexel named the business school after LeBow. He’d been a longtime supporter of his alma mater, and the naming happened after he contributed $10 million to the university. He also endowed the school’s world-famous LeBow Engineering Center. Gerri C. LeBow Hall was completed in 2013 and was named in honor of his late wife. This building was the result of a $45 million donation from LeBow, a historic gift in that it is the 12th–largest of any ever given to a school in the country and the largest ever given to Drexel.
About the Author
Maggie Boccella
Maggie Boccella, a lifelong resident of Philadelphia, is a freelance writer, artist and photographer. She has consulted on various film and multimedia projects, and she also serves as a juror for the city's annual LGBTQIA Film Festival.
