RIP Frederick S. Pardee: 1932-2022

The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future community mourns the loss of Frederick S. Pardee, the founder and benefactor of the Pardee Center and the Pardee School of Global Studies, who passed away in Los Angeles on June 27, 2022 at the age of 90.

Fred Pardee was a Boston University alum (SMG’54, GSM’54, Hon.’06) and one of its most generous benefactors. An economist, a real estate investor, and a thoughtful philanthropist, he leaves a deep and truly transformational imprint across Boston University and the many other institutions he supported across the U.S. and internationally.

The Pardee Center was established in 2000 through the generosity of Pardee. In recognition of his intellectual contributions and knowledge in the areas of futures research and human well-being, Boston University dedicated a historic brownstone at 67 Bay State Road as the Pardee House in 2000 and awarded Pardee an Honorary Doctorate Degree in 2006. In 2014, his generosity led to the establishment of the Pardee School of Global Studies.

“Fred Pardee was an inspiration,” said Adil Najam, Dean of the Pardee School and former Director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Longer-Range Future. “Our school, and its mission of ‘Advancing Human Progress,’ was born from Fred’s remarkable vision to improve the human condition globally and the work of both the Pardee School and the Pardee Center are deeply defined by his unwavering belief in the human potential.”

Najam added that, “for Boston University, he was a transformational philanthropist who passionately believed in the power of good ideas, innovative education and interdisciplinary research to make a real-world difference in the critical challenges humanity faces today. His eternal optimism that the future could be made more just, more prosperous, and more peaceful for all humanity, everywhere, was infectious and was possibly the greatest of all gifts he gave to the Pardee School. He will be dearly missed.”