John Whitehead, a 'titanic figure' for Haverford College, dies at 92

John C. Whitehead, 92, a Haverford College alumnus who served on the school's Board of Managers for more than 30 years - including 10 years as its chairman - died Saturday, Feb. 7.

Mr. Whitehead was described as a "titanic figure in Haverford history" by a school spokesman in announcing his death.

He served in the Navy, taking part in the invasions of Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. He later became U.S. deputy secretary of state.

Mr. Whitehead, who had been diagnosed with cancer, lived in New York City. He held a number of high-ranking positions, ranging from Washington politics to Goldman Sachs, where he was senior partner and cochairman before his retirement.

"We grieve the loss of John Whitehead and honor his achievements and contributions in service to his country and Goldman Sachs," Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said in a statement Saturday. "He was a man of enormous grace and integrity and his legacy will endure in the institutions he led and in the lives of those he cared for and mentored."

Mr. Whitehead grew up during the Great Depression in Montclair, N.J., where his family moved from Evanston, Ill., shortly after his birth.

"I vividly remember that we were scrimping and saving," he said in 2002, recalling his life in an interview with Harvard Business School. "We ate a lot of macaroni and cheese and fish cakes and not a lot of meat."

At Haverford, during World War II, Mr. Whitehead was permanent class president and president of the student government. He and other seniors took summer classes in 1942 to graduate a semester early and join the war efforts, he recalled in the Harvard interview.

In 1943, he joined the Navy. There he would participate in one of America's most famous battles, D-Day.

"When I've thought about my life, and if there was one day that made me turn from being a boy into a man, it was D-Day," he said last June during a panel discussion with former TV anchor Tom Brokaw. "Where I had to take on challenges presented to me more than I've ever had in any one day or one week or one month or one year since."

Mr. Whitehead attended Harvard Business School after the war and began working at Goldman Sachs, where he stayed for nearly 40 years, until 1984. He was also director of the New York Stock Exchange between 1982 and 1984.

His wife, Cynthia - whom he married eight years ago Saturday - said he valued leadership, integrity, and hearing other opinions.

"He always believed in listening, and he would sometimes just listen and let people talk," she said. Then, she said, he would sum everything up. "Probably nobody changed his mind about anything, but they thought they had."

Mr. Whitehead became U.S. deputy secretary of state in 1985 under George Shultz. President Ronald Reagan later gave him the Presidential Citizens Medal.

After 9/11, Mr. Whitehead helped steer revitalization efforts near the World Trade Center as chairman of the Board of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. Then-New York Gov. George Pataki appointed him to the position.

Haverford spokesman Chris Mills said Mr. Whitehead recalled his experience at Haverford as a departure from his high school years.

"I came from a high school where cheating was rampant," he recalled Mr. Whitehead saying. "My goal then was to be the best cheater there was. But at Haverford, I was inspired and challenged by Quaker principles.

"I asked myself, 'What do you want to stand for?' And the answer was, 'I want to stand for what Haverford stands for.' Haverford is where I became who I am."

Haverford president Daniel Weiss called Mr. Whitehead one of the college's most successful graduates.

"He embodied professional success, a deep commitment to personal integrity and human kindness," Weiss said.

"He did everything well," Weiss added. "Always with the interests of others before his own."

Mr. Whitehead is survived by his wife, daughters Anne Whitehead Crawford and Sarah Whitehead, son Gregory, three stepsons, four stepdaughters, and 10 grandchildren.

Services were yet to be announced.