William J. Hume, known as Jerry Hume, was an American businessman and conservative donor.Voucher Backer Confirmed by Senate, The Los Angeles Times, March 31, 1995
Early life and education Hume was born to Jaquelin H. Hume, the co-founder of Basic American Foods, the world's largest supplier of dried potato and bean products, and Caroline Howard Hume, a philanthropist.Bruce Lambert, Jaquelin Hume, 86, Dried Fruit Producer and Philanthropist, The New York Times, October 04, 1991Meredith May, Caroline Howard Hume, S.F. philanthropist, dies, San Francisco Gate, October 30, 2008 He has a brother, George H. Hume, and two sisters, Patricia Highberg and Carol Tolan. He graduated from Yale College in 1961.
Career He serves as chairman of his family business, Basic American Foods.
Philanthropy He has been described by The Los Angeles Times as a "major Republican donor." In 1972, he helped found San Francisco University High School, which his children attended.'An Evening In Honor of Jerry Hume', Pacific Research Institute, June 30, 2003 In the late 1970s, he joined the education taskforce of the California Business Roundtable. He was also a board member of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and one of his reports paved the way for No Child Left Behind. In the early 1990s, he donated US$100,000 for school vouchers in Colorado and Oregon. By 1995, he was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to serve on the California State Board of Education, where he supported school choice. He was also Chairman of the California Academy of Sciences and he served on the Boards of Trustees of the California Council on Economic Education and Teach For America. In 1996, he donated US$200,000 to support Ward Connerly's California Proposition 209, which amended the state constitution to prohibit state government institutions from considering race, sex, or ethnicity, specifically in the areas of public employment, public contracting or public education.Lee Cokorinos, The Big Money Behind Ward Connerly , Equal Justice Society
He is chairman of the Foundation for Teaching Economics.The Foundation for Teaching Economics Board of Trustees He sits on the Boards of Trustees of The Heritage Foundation, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, The Foundation for Educational Choice, the Center for Education Reform, and Donors Trust.
He has also donated to the Jaqueline Hume Foundation, named for his late father, where he serves as Second Vice President and Treasurer.Justin Torres, Jaquelin Hume Foundation , Philanthropy, March / April 2006
In 2008, he received the first Sir Anthony Fisher Freedom Award from the Pacific Research Institute.William Hume to Receive Sir Anthony Fisher Freedom Award, Atlas Economic Research Foundation, November 12th, 2008
Personal life His wife is from Chile, and they have adult children.
Death
Jerry Hume died at his home in San Francisco on January 23, 2023.https://tfas.org/news/tfas-mourns-partner-in-economic-education-jerry-hume/
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