Member Remembrance: Edmund A. “Ted” Stanley, Jr.

Edmund A. “Ted” Stanley, Jr., a long-time Corporate Accountability International supporter, quiet benefactor of a range of causes, and highly-regarded businessman died at the age of 85 this winter.  

Most may know him from the underwriting credits on National Public Radio or his enduring devotion to environmental causes. Still others remember the humble, good natured man who transformed his life experience into a tribute to a better world.  

His journey began at one of the world’s worst moments, however. In 1945, Stanley found himself on the front lines of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles, the Battle of the Bulge. Injured and chilled to the bone, Stanley traversed the carnage of the battlefield in search of a medic. Instead he happened upon an armed German soldier. The two looked at each other, kept their weapons lowered, and passed each other without a shot being fired…without uttering a word.

As NPR’s Living on Earth put it, “it seems that was the day Ted's philosophy crystallized: no matter what the history, the anger, the fight, in the end we are all humans – a part of creation, each part due care and respect.”

Years later Stanley would support American Friends Service Committee in stopping the military from recruiting in schools, as well as Corporate Accountability International’s (then Infact) boycott of leading nuclear weapon maker General Electric.

“Ted was instinctively a good person,” said his wife Jennifer. “He remained that way even in a corporate world that did not reward kindness or generosity.”

Upon returning from war, Stanley graduated magna cum laude from Princeton with a degree in psychology and went to work for his father at New York’s oldest financial printing company, Bowne and Co., Inc. In 1956, he became CEO and over four decades made it the largest and most profitable company of its kind in America.  

But he always insisted that “the quest for the almighty dollar” not come at “the exclusion of all other values,” as he put it during a speech to educators in 1986. Still, in swimming against the tide Stanley observed a healthy share of the greed that foreshadowed today’s financial crisis – one of the reasons he was first drawn to Corporate Accountability International’s “tough advocacy.”

In the 1970s Stanley began giving about half of his financial assets to charity, furthering his personal commitment to business ethics and a more just economy. He also instituted a culture of giving at Bowne with an emphasis on neighborhood charities like the South Street Seaport Museum.

On one occasion, Stanley learned the staff at the museum would not be receiving paychecks. An employee had inquired of the Museum’s president, “What about your paycheck?” To which the president responded, “Well, I have bills to pay!” Stanley’s indignation was as deep as those on the blunt edge of the president’s furloughs – he made sure the Museum’s employees got paid.

“That was Ted’s way,” said Jennifer Stanley.

In all, Stanley set an example of how to conduct business with integrity and a fidelity to the greater good. He was also a dedicated partner in Corporate Accountability International’s work and a dear friend to its staff over the years.

He will be deeply missed.