Charles Luckman

Charles Luckman (May 16, 1909 – January 26, 1999) was an American businessman, property developer, and architect known for designing landmark buildings in the United States such as the Theme Building, Prudential Tower, Madison Square Garden, and The Forum.

Charles Luckman was born on May 16, 1909, in Kansas City, Missouri, to an immigrant family, his father came from Germany and his mother from Yugoslavia.

At age nine, he began selling newspapers outside the Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City at Eleventh and Baltimore.

Luckman recalls that, after the second or third week he was working at the newsstand, he asked a woman passing by about what the "pretty lights" hanging down the ceiling were called.

She told the young Luckman that they were called chandeliers.

He then asked a second question to the same woman on who decided to place them.

She responds, "An architect. He designs the hotel and says to put the chandeliers there."

Luckman wrote in his memoir, "Right then and there I decided to become an architect."

In 1920, Luckman found work as a stock boy in the men's furnishings department at a Jones Store Company.

He later went on as a junior salesman for about a year before moving to various departments over time.

There, he learned crucial knowledges in business, which would later help him in the future.

When reflecting back, Luckman stated that the most vital lessons he learned from were the result of people, because he had a "natural interest in studying what motivates people."

Luckman attended Kansas City's Northeast High School for all four years.

He joined the high school debate team, was elected class president during his senior year, and voted "Most Likely to Succeed; the latter which he detested. Following graduation in 1925, and a stint in a Kansas City Junior Engineering College, he took a job as a draftsman at an architect's office in Chicago. He was awarded a full scholarship to the University of Missouri, but he declined it because the school did not offer a degree in architecture. Instead, Luckman would attend at the University of Illinois where he studied architecture.

Luckman graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois in 1931 with a bachelor's degree in architecture.

At the same time, Luckman was licensed to practice architecture after being sent a letter from the Illinois Board of Examiners.

Lacking professional opportunities in architecture as a result of the Great Depression, Luckman joined at Colgate-Palmolive-Peet as a draftsman in the advertising department.

He later transferred to sales.

Luckman achieved impressive gains in the sales of his company's soap on Chicago's South Side, which earned him a reputation as a superb salesman and set the stage for a remarkable rise in the business world.

In 1935, Luckman became sales manager for Pepsodent, where his marketing techniques were credited with quadrupling profits.

This came about when his boss from Colgate became account executive at Albert Lasker's Lord & Thomas advertising agency.

He recommended Luckman for sales manager at Pepsodent.

When he was 27, Time magazine called him the "Boy Wonder of American business" in 1937.

By 1938, he made himself vice-president and general manager of Pepsodent.

He was named the "Boy Wonder of American Business" by Time magazine when president of the Pepsodent toothpaste company in 1939.

Through acquisition, he later became president of Lever Brothers.

The next major step in Luckman's career occurred in 1944, when Lever Brothers acquired Pepsodent for $10 million.

Luckman continued as president of Pepsodent and became a vice-president of Lever Brothers.

In 1946, Luckman became president of Lever Brothers, making him one of the youngest head executives in the country.

This earned him a second cover on Time's June 10, 1946, issue.

Luckman would later collaborate with William Pereira, in which the two would form their architectural firm, Pereira & Luckman, in 1950.

In 1950, Luckman left Lever Brothers.

Pereira & Luckman would later dissolve by 1958, parting ways for both himself and Pereira.

Luckman would continue successfully with his own firm, Charles Luckman Associates.

Luckman retired from the firm, although he would still be present.

Aside from his business and architectural work, Luckman did public work that dates back during World War II.

He was appointed on the President's Committee on Civil Rights during the Truman administration, as well as being the chairman of the Citizens Food Committee and the Freedom Train; both of which helped out Europe.

As a result of his work in Europe, Luckman was honored with the Order of St. John, Legion of Honor and Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity.

Additionally, Luckman was an active supporter of public education.

Luckman died on January 26, 1999, at his home in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 89.