Awards

IU Indianapolis Spirit of Philanthropy Award - 2000

About J. Warren McClure

J. Warren McClure was the former owner of the Burlington Free Press and became an executive at Gannett Co. before retiring and becoming a well-known philanthropist. He worked his way up to publisher at the Free Press before buying the paper with associates in 1961. A decade later, they sold it to Gannett in a deal that left Mr. McClure the company's largest individual stockholder.

Mr. McClure became Gannett's first vice president of marketing, a position he held until his retirement in 1975, at age 55. He then became one of Vermont's leading philanthropists. He and his wife formed The J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation in 1995 and went on to donate millions to dozens of organizations.