Brooks McCormick

Brooks McCormick (February 23, 1917 – August 15, 2006) was an American philanthropist and equestrian from the McCormick family that ran International Harvester. He was the chief executive officer of International Harvester in the 1970s, and was the family's final member to lead the company that they had founded.

Early life and education Born February 23, 1917, in Chicago, Illinois, to the distinguished McCormick family, McCormick was a great-grandnephew of Cyrus McCormick, whose 19th century development of the horse-drawn reaper was the start of a large agricultural machinery business. His father, Chauncey McCormick (1884–1954), was a cousin of Chicago Tribune publisher Robert R. McCormick, and his mother, Marion Deering, was a daughter of Charles Deering. Charles' father William Deering had founded the Deering Harvester Company, which merged with the McCormicks' harvester business in 1902 to form the basis for International Harvester. Chauncey and Marion Deering wed in 1914.

Brooks McCormick attended the Groton School in Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale University in 1940 with a degree in English.

McCormick stepped down as the chairman of International Harvester's executive committee on October 31, 1980, ending almost 150 years of his family's active management in the company. He had no interest in nepotism, and saw little reason to be sad about the passing of the McCormicks' role in the company. "There's no room in this world for emotionalism or sentimentality," he told the Chicago Tribune at the time of his retirement.

In 2000, McCormick sold the farm for $43 million to the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, with the stipulation that it would take possession of the farm upon McCormick's death. A condition of a bequest related to the sale was the demolition of several structures on the property, including McCormick's own mansion, which had been designed by noted architect Jarvis Hunt. It is now known as St. James Farm Forest Preserve.

Philanthropy A noted philanthropist and art collector, McCormick bequeathed 11 works of art to the Art Institute of Chicago upon his death in 2006, including paintings by Édouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Winslow Homer, Paul Cézanne, and John Singer Sargent. McCormick had been president of the Art Institute's board from 1944 until 1954. McCormick also willed his collection of rare bird books and paintings to the International Crane Foundation, which reaped more than $2.7 million from their sale after his death.

Family

McCormick's wife, former Illinois state legislator Hope Baldwin McCormick, died in 1993. McCormick's other two children are his daughter, Abby McCormick O'Neil (born circa 1951), and a son, Brooks McCormick Jr. (born March 1944).

McCormick was described by the Tribune's Michael Kilian in 1990 as an "intensely private person who reflexively shuns public attention."

McCormick died on August 15, 2006, and was buried at Graceland Cemetery.

Family tree