Austin H. KipLinger, ’35

Editor Emeritus, The Kiplinger Letter; Co-Chair, Leadership Committee of The City Museum of Washington DC

Austin H. Kiplinger (19 September 1918 – 20 November 2015) was an American journalist and businessman. He was the son of W. M. Kiplinger and Irene Austin. His father was the founder of Kiplinger Washington Editors, publishers of The Kiplinger Letters and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. From 1961 to 1992, Kiplinger helmed the Kiplinger Company before passing the position to his son, Knight Kiplinger.

The son of W. M. Kiplinger, Kiplinger was born in Washington, D.C. in 1918. He grew up there, attending Western High School. While attending Cornell University, he worked as the Cornell campus stringer for the Ithaca Journal and wrote stories about the 1936 Presidential Election that were picked up by the Associated Press. He was a member of the Cornell University Glee Club, Quill and Dagger, and Phi Beta Kappa, graduating in 1939. Thereafter, he attended Harvard University, studying economics.

In December 1944, he married Mary Louise “Gogo” Cobb of Winnetka, Ill. The couple shared two sons. Mary Louise died in 2007 and he died on 20 November 2015 in Rockville aged 97.

In addition to his journalism career, Kiplinger followed his father’s lead as a collector of Washingtoniana—historical prints and photographs depicting the history of Washington, D.C. He championed the creation of a city museum for the District of Columbia. The research library at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. in Mount Vernon Square is named in his honor. In 2011 the 5000-piece Kiplinger Washington Collection was pledged to several Washington area museums, with most of it (4,000 graphic works) going to the Historical Society and other portions going to Mount Vernon, the National Portrait Gallery and President Lincoln’s Cottage at Soldiers Home.

Kiplinger is chairman emeritus of the Cornell University Board of Trustees and a trustee or past trustee of the Tudor Place Foundation, the National Symphony Orchestra, the National Press Foundation, Washington International Horse Show and Federal City Council, among other civic commitments.

Citation: Wikipedia contributors. (2024, March 6). Austin H. Kiplinger. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:37, June 2, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_H._Kiplinger