The university will hold a public memorial celebrating the life and legacy of Albert J. Weatherhead III on Oct. 14 at 3:30 p.m. in Amasa Stone Chapel. Parking is available at lot 29, the Campus Garage, on East Boulevard behind Severance Hall.
Weatherhead passed away Sept. 20 at the age of 86.
He is best known for his philanthropic work through The Weatherhead Foundation, which concentrates on innovative gifts to institutions of higher education.
He was one of the Case Western Reserve’s most significant and influential benefactors, providing the resources to develop what is now known as the Weatherhead School of Management and playing a key role in the launch of its home in the Peter B. Lewis building.
He also has three endowments at the management school, including a named professorship traditionally held by its dean. The family also endowed the Albert J. Weatherhead III and Richard W. Weatherhead Professorship at the School of Law, and the Dorothy Jones Weatherhead Professorship in Family Medicine, bearing the name of his mother. He also is a founding member of the John L. Caughey Jr. Society of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Elsewhere, he and his wife, Celia, and the Weatherhead Foundation founded the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, the Weatherhead P.E.T. Center for Preventing and Reversing Heart Atherosclerosis at the University of Texas-Houston and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University.
At Tulane University, he has endowed the Weatherhead Visiting Professor of Philosophy, the Weatherhead Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of the Center for Bioenvironmental Research and The Margaret and Eamon Kelly Distinguished Chair in International Development. He and Celia recently gave $100 million to Tulane for appointments of Weatherhead University Professors and the creation of the Weatherhead Scholars Program.
Al Weatherhead’s success in industry came primarily from two companies. The first was automobile parts maker Weatherhead Co., which he took over at his father’s request and then sold to a larger company a decade later. The other was Weatherchem, which he founded in 1971 from the roots of a debt-laden Twinsburg plastics company. A dozen years later, that firm made its breakthrough product: a cap with two lids—one to an open hole for pouring and one with little holes for shaking. The lids have become ubiquitous as dispensers for spices, medication and more.
His 2008 book, The Power of Adversity, Weatherhead writes that adversity is not a curse but a gift. “Don’t ask ‘Why me?’” he said. “Ask ‘Why not me?’”
To share memories or condolences and to view a tribute video, visit case.edu/albertjweatherhead.