THE DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR THE BLACK EXPERIENCE
"Take the long-term view."
University executive-in-residence and former foundation executive Steven A. Minter was born in Akron, Ohio on October 23, 1938. He is the son of Lawrence and Dorothy Minter. Graduating from Ohio’s Kinsman High School in 1956, Minter earned his B.A. degree in education from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio in 1960. In 1963, he earned his M.Ed. degree from Case Western Reserve University. He also holds honorary doctorate degrees from Case Western Reserve University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Kent State University, Oberlin College, Lake Erie College and Findlay College.
Minter served as president and executive director of the Cleveland Foundation from 1984 until his retirement in July 2003. Outside the foundation world, Minter spent over 15 years in governmental positions. In 1980, when the U.S. Department of Education was first formed, he served as its first under secretary. From 1970 to 1975, he was the commissioner of public welfare for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He had a career as a caseworker at the Cuyahoga County Welfare Department in 1960 in Cleveland, Ohio and became its director in 1969.
Minter served on the boards of numerous national and regional organizations, including the College of Wooster, Community Foundations of America, American Public Welfare Association and the National Community AIDS Partnership. He co-chaired Greater Cleveland’s Vision Council and served on the boards of the Greater Cleveland Roundtable, Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education, the Union Club and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. He is a director of KeyCorp and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. He is also a former board member of Dominion Resources, Rubbermaid and Ohio Bell Telephone Company.
Minter is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the 2003 Distinguished Grantmaker Award presented by the Council on Foundations and the 1991 Ohio Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education.
Minter and his wife, Dolly, live in Shaker Heights, Ohio. They have three married daughters, two grandsons and one granddaughter.
Minter passed away on September 19, 2019.