Ambassador Loeb Final

Learn more about the

incredible life

of Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr.

Heritage

John Loeb Jr. is descended from four of the most distinguished families in American and Jewish American history: Lehman, Loeb, Lewisohn, and Moses. His ancestors include American Revolutionary soldiers, metal barons, arts philanthropists, and the creators of the New York Cotton Exchange. Born in 1930, Loeb grew up on the Ridgeleigh Estate in Purchase, N.Y., with his parents, siblings, and maternal grandparents, Arthur and Adele Lehman, and vacationed at the Lehman family lakeside retreat in the Adirondacks. Loeb attended elite private schools including the Collegiate School for Boys, the Harvey School, and the Hotchkiss School. It was his experience with anti-Semitism at these institutions that helped Loeb develop a lifelong commitment to fighting religious bigotry. Loeb has two children, Alexandra Loeb Driscoll and Nicholas Mears Loeb, as well as three grandchildren.

heritage

Businessman

Collector

Honors

Philanthropist

Public Service

This is a must read for people who want to connect yesterday and today with the urgency of tomorrow."

— Leonard Lauder, Former CEO of Estee Lauder, Renowned Philanthropist and Art Collector, and Chairman Emeritus, Whitney Museum, New York City

Anyone interested in the upper reaches of American society [...] will find a rich and revealing lode of raw material in this lavishly-illustrated memoir. There's hardly a president, a monarch, a mogul, or a philanthropist whom John Loeb hasn't crossed paths with. The early portion of the book is also a timely reminder of how pervasive was anti-Semitism in this country not so very long ago."

— Adam Hochschild, Author, Journalist, and Lecturer

See what the critics are saying about Reflections, Memories, and Confessions

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After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1954, John entered the Air Force as a second lieutenant before leaving in 1957 to join the family firm Loeb, Rhoades & Co. Despite being “the boss’s son,” Loeb worked his way up to partner by collaborating with various departments and developing an impressive array of overseas holdings. In 1975, Loeb left to manage his own investments. A few years later, Shearson/American Express purchased Loeb, Rhoades. Standout projects from Loeb’s personal portfolio include the Russian Riverbend Vineyards in Sonoma County, Calif., a 150-acre plot of land he purchased in 1971. With encouragement from Prince Henrik of Denmark, Loeb began making his own wine, Sonoma-Loeb, in 1981. Since 2011, Loeb has retained ownership of the vineyard while licensing the Sonoma-Loeb label to Chappellet Wines.

Businessman

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From the Lehman Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the Lewisohn Collection at the Brooklyn Museum, Loeb gifts to the Harvard Art Museums, and the Frances Lehman Loeb Museum at Vassar College, the art collector gene comes from all branches of Loeb’s family tree. Naturally, he developed what he’s called a “lifelong affinity for fine art,” and he focused on collecting Danish art after serving as U.S. ambassador to Denmark. Today, Loeb is one of the world’s leading experts on Danish art, and the Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr. Danish Art Collection is the largest in the world outside of Danish museums. He is also responsible for the assembly of the Loeb Jewish Portrait Database, the world’s most extensive online gallery of portraits made of American Jews in the Colonial and antebellum periods. In addition to fine art, Loeb also collects fine homes — he’s now the owner of the Ridgeleigh Estate in Purchase, N.Y., where he grew up, as well as a townhome on East 61st Street in Manhattan and a flat on London’s famed Eaton Square.

Collector

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Throughout his life, Loeb has performed public service with the same enthusiasm he has brought to business and philanthropy. He entered the United States Air Force as a second lieutenant after graduating from Harvard Business School in 1954 and during his service developed a plan for saving taxpayer money by better managing overtime at Douglas Aircraft Company. After getting out of the military and while working in the family business, Loeb served as special adviser to New York Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller on environmental matters and then chairman of the New York State Council of Environmental Advisors, during which he participated in the United Nations Conference on the Environment and served as chairman of the Keep New York State Clean Program. After leaving Loeb, Rhoades, Loeb was appointed the United States ambassador to Denmark in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan. Upon completing his appointment, Loeb served as a public delegate in the U.S. delegation to the United Nations and a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1992.

PUBLIC SERVice

And to you, Ambassador Loeb, for your leadership and what you’re doing in terms of scholarships. It is outstanding. It is wonderful. — President George H.W. Bush

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Historian Kenneth Libo poignantly observed that the true religion of the Loeb, Lehman, and Lewisohn families is philanthropy. In fact, Loeb was taught from an early age that a full life contains three parts: First, the period of education, where you prepare for the future. Second, a career. And third, philanthropy, sharing what you have with others. Loeb’s philanthropic endeavors include serving as chair to several organizations, including the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States, which sponsors young American scientists to study at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge, the Langeloth Foundation, which provides housing and other social services to those in need, and the John L. Loeb Jr. Foundation, through which he personally supports numerous nonprofits, particularly in the area of religious freedom. He is also the founder and chairman of the George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom, which runs the Loeb Visitors Center at the historic Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I.

philanthropist

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Select honors include decoration by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark with the Grand Cross of the Order of Dannebrog, as well as by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Loeb has also received awards from the American Jewish Historical Society, the Hebrew Benevolent Society, Sons of the American Revolution, Danish American Society, John Clarke Society, and St. Nicholas Society. Most recently, he was awarded the Emma Lazarus Statue of Liberty Award by the American Jewish Historical Society in 2015 and the Global Citizen Award by the United Nations Association of Greater Boston in 2018.

HONORS

A moving example of one man's impact on the ageless issue of religious freedom. It’s significant that the book title carries the term Confessions in it. John pulls no punches. It’s truthful and complete and very compelling."

— Dan W. Lufkin, Founder of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Entrepreneur, Equestrian, Environmentalist, Author, Banker, and Audubon Medal Winner