Philanthropic Studies Library

About Bob Payton

A philanthropy pioneer, Payton served as the first chair of Independent Sector’s research committee, spearheading a group of researchers and nonprofit professionals who tried, for the first time, to measure and define the scope and scale of philanthropy and the nonprofit sector in the United States.

He helped establish philanthropy as an academic field worthy of serious intellectual study. He served as president of the Exxon Education Foundation, created the Jane Addams—Andrew Carnegie Fellowship Program, and led the fellows in an immersive program of study.

He helped develop and launch the world’s first Master of Arts in Philanthropic Studies degree program at the school. Throughout his life, Payton served others as a journalist, a paratrooper in World War II, president of Hofstra University and C.W. Post College, and as a United States ambassador to the Federal Republic of Cameroon.