Awards

IU Indianapolis Spirit of Philanthropy Award - 1995

IU Indianapolis Spirit of Philanthropy Award - 1990

About Mary Fendrich Hulman

Mary Fendrich Hulman was the wife of the late Indiana industrialist Anton "Tony" Hulman, Jr. and matriarch of the Hulman-George family which today controls Hulman & Company, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League.

She became chairwoman of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway board when her husband, Tony Hulman, died in 1977. Poor health forced her to turn the chairwomanship over to her daughter, Mari Hulman George.

Mary Fendrich was the only child of the late John Herrmann Fendrich, whose father founded the cigar empire La Fendrich. The Hulman family, based in Terre Haute, Ind., built a fortune in banking, broadcasting and energy and dry goods businesses.

Mary Fendrich met Tony Hulman in Atlantic City, where both families had summer homes, and the two married in 1926. He bought the crumbling Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1945 and turned the Indy 500 into the biggest, richest auto race in the world.

In 1986, she made Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest people in America with a reported worth of $180 million.