Howard Ahmanson Jr.


Howard Fieldstad Ahmanson Jr. is an American Evangelical philanthropist. He is the son of Howard F. Ahmanson Sr., the founder of Home Savings Bank.

Early life and education

Howard Fieldstad Ahmanson Jr. was born on February 3, 1950. He is the son of Dorothy Johnston Grannis and financier Howard F. Ahmanson Sr.. His father was a prominent businessman in the savings and loan industry; Howard Sr. founded H.F. Ahmanson & Co., which thrived in the Great Depression and ultimately expanded throughout California and into New York state, Arizona and Florida. His father was well known for his support of the arts, an area in which Ahmanson has continued to be active.
His parents divorced when he was ten years old. Despite the trappings of wealth, Howard Jr. was a lonely child. He has said, "I resented my family background, could never be a role model, whether by habits or his lifestyle, it was never anything I wanted." His father died when he was eighteen, and Ahmanson inherited the family's fortune.
He attended Occidental College, where he obtained a degree in economics. He then toured Europe, but returned because of complications with arthritis. He earned a master's degree in linguistics at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Monetary contributions

Organizations and projects

Fieldstead and Company, Howard and Roberta Ahmanson's personal office, has a steady history of contributing parts of his father's inherited fortune to a plethora of organizations and initiatives. It is stated that the mission of Fieldstead and Company is to "make the world more like... a place where there is no darkness, no sickness, no hunger or thirst, no slavery, no prisoners, no tears, no death". The following is a list of organizations to which the Ahmansons have contributed significant amounts in the past:
Howard has previously served as a board member for both the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation and the Claremont Institute. Ahmanson is a major supporter of the Discovery Institute, whose Center for Science and Culture supports ideas centered around intelligent design. Through Fieldstead, Ahmanson's wife Roberta, a former religion reporter and editor for the Orange County Register, has funded and been directly involved with some programs of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, including the Washington Journalism Center that encompasses both the Summer Institute of Journalism, and the Fieldstead Journalism Lectures. Fieldstead has funded other Christian journalistic projects such as Gegrapha and GetReligion. A common thread in all of these organizations is Terry Mattingly, a personal friend of Roberta Ahmanson, who directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, teaches journalism, and writes a weekly column for the Scripps-Howard News Service. Roberta Ahmanson recently co-edited a book called Blind Spot. Howard and Roberta are also supporters of The Media Project, an organization that "educates journalists on the importance of religion" and its digital magazine, Religion Unplugged. The Ahmansons have also supported the creation of the 29-volume Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, published by InterVarsity Press.

Social advocacy and political involvement

Ahmanson was a major advocate for the abolition of California redevelopment agencies, especially concerned about what he viewed as the widespread abuse of eminent domain and public subsidies. He financed the publication "Redevelopment: The Unknown Government" and the formation of Municipal Officials for Redevelopment Reform, alongside Chris Norby, California legislator and former mayor of Fullerton, California, in 1995. Norby later served in the California State Assembly when redevelopment agencies were abolished in 2011 and MORR was disbanded, having succeeded in its sole purpose.
Ahmanson was a registered Republican until 2008; Ahmanson, worried about the narrowing focus of the California Republican Party on lowering taxes, announced that he switched parties and was a registered Democrat from 2008 to 2018. Finding fault with both parties, he is now officially registered as a "No Party Preference" voter. In the 2020 presidential election, Ahmanson voted for and endorsed Brian T. Carroll of the American Solidarity Party.
Time magazine included the Ahmansons in their 2005 profiles of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America, classifying them as "the financiers." In the 1970s, Howard became a board member of the Chalcedon Foundation and served until 1996. In 1996, he said he had left the Chalcedon board due to the fact that he "did not embrace" all of the teachings held by its leadership.
In 2004, the Orange County Register wrote a five-part profile of the Ahmansons.
Holding a strong interest and passion in the activity of standup paddleboarding, Ahmanson has assumed a role of activism alongside FreeSUP SoCal in opposition to a particular determination made by the United States Coast Guard that has been used to require operators of standup paddleboards to wear a personal flotation device. FreeSUP SoCal maintains that a leash is the more common and frequently most effective safety equipment, as evidenced by its widespread usage and the sport's significantly diminished mortality rate compared to other water sports. In 2014, the organization that would come to be known as FreeSup SoCal and which receives funding by Ahmanson, offered a formal, public comment to the USCG that explained how the PFD determination which was intended to promote safety for standup paddleboarders sorely lacked data justifying the determination, and that making determinations without the necessary data could have the opposite effect of putting paddleboarders in peril.

Arts and humanities

Organizations

Ahmanson has made numerous contributions and offered support for art initiatives across Los Angeles and Orange County. The following is a collection of organizations and projects in the arts & humanities that have benefited from his support:
Bridge Projects is an LA-based art gallery that consists of a community of artists, scholars, and collectors who are inspired by art history, spirituality, living religious traditions, and contemporary art practices. Roberta, wife of Ahmanson and current chair of Bridge Projects, founded the gallery and community with LA-based artist, Linnea Spransy, back in 2017. While Howard played a supportive role in bringing this project to fruition, Roberta spearheaded the vision for Bridge Projects, which has featured a number of progressive art installations, such as:
  • "10 Columns," an immersive light installation created by prominent Southern California artist, Phillip K. Smith III.
  • "A Composite Leviathan," a two-part exhibition created by a collection of emerging Chinese artists.
  • "To Bough and To Bend," an exhibition of many artists using trees as imagery for discussions around ecological issues.

    Personal life

In 1986, Ahmanson married journalist Roberta Green.
Ahmanson lives with Tourette syndrome. His primary residence is in Newport Beach, California.