Stewart Rawlings Mott

Stewart Rawlings Mott (December 4, 1937 – June 12, 2008) was an American philanthropist who founded the Stewart R. Mott Foundation. He was the son of Charles Stewart Mott (a co-founder of General Motors) and appeared on Nixon's Enemies List for his support of liberal causes.^[1][2]

Biography

Stewart Rawlings Mott was born on December 4, 1937, in Flint, Michigan, to Charles Stewart Mott and Ruth Rawlings, Mr. Mott's fourth wife.^[2] Charles Mott, who had a company manufacturing wheels and axles at the beginning in the 1900s, took advantage of the auto industry’s rapid growth and sold his company to General Motors for stocks, becoming G.M.'s largest individual shareholder.^[2]

Mott attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for three years and finished his education at Columbia University School of General Studies, earning two Bachelor's degrees, one in business administration and one in comparative literature.^[2] Mott graduated in 1961 and inherited $6 million with $850,000 in annual income from two trust funds; Mott used his resources to create the first Planned Parenthood clinic in his hometown of Flint, Michigan.^[3] He wrote a thesis on Sophocles for a Master's Degree from Columbia, which he never finished. His philanthropy included abortion reform, birth control, sex research, feminism, arms control, gay rights, civil liberties, governmental reform, and research on extrasensory perception. He gave his occupation as "maverick" in the 1978 photo essay Cat People.^{[citation needed]}

Shortly prior to his death Stewart Mott resided in Bermuda for most of his time, and also traveled to his numerous houses in the United States. His homes included a penthouse in 800 Park Avenue in Manhattan,^[4] a house trailer on a Florida farm, and a Chinese junk moored on the Hudson River in New York City.^[5]

References

1. Sorge, Helmut (25 March 1985). "So haben alle etwas davon". Der Spiegel (in German).
2. Douglas Martin (14 June 2008). "Stewart R. Mott, 70, Offbeat Philanthropist, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Wikidata Q119951596. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
3. Rottenberg, Dan (2000). The Inheritor's Handbook : A Definitive Guide for Beneficiaries (1st ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 164. ISBN 0-684-86908-X. OCLC 43567569.
4. Katherine Clarke (13 June 2023). Billionaires’ Row: Tycoons, High Rollers, and the Epic Race to Build the World's Most Exclusive Skyscrapers. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-593-24006-9. OL 40128264M. Wikidata Q119945545. (p. 57)
5. Cat People, Bill Hayward, introduction by Rogers E. M. Whitaker. New York: Dolphin/Doubleday, 1978 (p. 88)

External links

• The Last Word (NY Times): Stewart R. Mott Video obituary
• CUNY.tv Day ay Night: Stuart Mott March 19, 1974, James Day interviews Stuart Mott (length: 27:58)