SAMUEL, RALPH E.

SAMUEL, RALPH E. (1892–1967), U.S. investment banker. Born in Rochester, New York, Samuel joined the family business and served as president of this retail chain until 1932. He then became a partner in a Wall Street brokerage firm, and in 1938 organized and headed his own firm. In 1954 he started one of the first mutual funds in the United States. From the beginning of his career he took an interest in Jewish and general community work. He was a voluntary fund raiser for the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies and served as its president from 1948 to 1951. He was a vice president and chairman of the board of the American Jewish Committee and instrumental in founding its publication, Commentary. His other activities included the chairmanship of the American-Jewish Tercentenary Committee (1954–55), and the vice chairmanship of the Board of Trustees of the New York School of Social Work at Columbia University. Despite his conservative financial views and approaches toward business, he supported liberal Democrats such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Adlai E. Stevenson. He died during a visit to Israel. (Joachim O. Ronall)