Articles: Sir John Templeton

John Templeton
1/1/2005
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Marks Templeton was born on 29 November 1912, in the town of Winchester, Tennessee. He became a naturalized British citizen and lives in Nassau, Bahamas.

Business

Sir John Marks Templeton is a highly successful pioneer of globally diversified mutual funds, becoming a billionaire. He established:

• Templeton Growth, Ltd. (investment fund) in 1954;
• the John Templeton Foundation;
• the Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities in 1972.
• the Templeton Library in Sewanee, Tennessee.

Personal

He attended Yale University and pledged the Zeta Psi Fraternity, graduating in 1934 as a top scholar in his class.

He was a Rhodes Scholar to Balliol College, University of Oxford from which he graduated with a M.A. degree in law.

He is a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church.

He was a trustee on the board of Princeton Theological Seminary, the largest Presbyterian seminary, for 42 years and served as its chair for 12 years.

He married the former Judith Folk in 1937 and the couple had three children — John, Anne and Christopher. She died in February, 1951.

He married Irene Reynolds Butler in 1958. She passed away in 1993.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1987 for his philanthropic efforts.