Jon Stryker
Encyclopedia
Jon Lloyd Stryker is an American architect
, philanthropist
and activist for social and environmental causes. He is a billionaire
stockholder and heir to the Stryker Corporation medical supply company fortunes of grandfather Homer Stryker
alongside sisters Pat
and Ronda. In 2010, his net worth was estimated at $1.2 billion.
Stryker is the founder and President of Arcus Foundation
, an international foundation supporting Great Ape conservation and social justice
endeavors. The threatened colobine species Rhinopithecus strykeri is named for him.
Stryker received his Bachelor's of Arts/Science from Kalamazoo College
in 1982. He later served on the college's Board of Trustees and was recipient of their 2010 Distinguished Service Award. He received his Master of Architecture
from University of California at Berkeley.
Stryker is a registered architect in Michigan and is President of Depot Landmark LLC, a development company specializing in the rehabilitation of historic buildings.
conservation and LGBT rights.
, a private foundation that supports great ape conservation as well as human social justice
causes including sexual orientation
and gender equality
. He is a founding Board Member of the Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy in Northern Kenya
, Save the Chimps
in Fort Pierce, Florida
and Greenleaf Trust in Kalamazoo, Michigan
.
was named Rhinopithecus strykeri in his honor; Stryker's Arcus Foundation
had supported the primate research teams who discovered the colobine, already known and hunted for food by natives in Northern Myanmar
on the Maw River, during the course of a survey of Hoolock Gibbon
s.
supports groups advancing gay
, lesbian
, bisexual and transgender
(GLBT) human rights
and social justice
. Stryker is a Platinum Council (US $50,000 and over annual contributions) donor to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
.
In 2009, Kalamazoo College
received a $200,000 planning grant from Stryker's Arcus Foundation to prepare for the establishment of a social justice leadership center.
Visual artist Nan Goldin
's work in Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography has been supported by the purchase and exhibition of silver dye bleach prints "through the generosity of" Stryker.
Coalition for Progress in August 2006 to fund election campaigns for Michigan Senate
and Michigan House of Representatives district candidates, particularly from the Democratic Party
. Stryker personally contributed $4.7 million while sister Pat Stryker
contributed $500,000 by November 2006. In the 2006 Michigan gubernatorial election
, Jennifer Granholm
was re-elected as Governor of Michigan
over Republican
opponent Dick DeVos
, the subject of advertising paid for by the Coalition.
In June 2010, Stryker enlarged his contiguous residential property in Palm Beach, Florida
, initially enlarged by purchasing the ocean-access lot next to the one containing his 1924 Mediterranean-style house designed by Marion Sims Wyeth
, whose west facade was designated a landmark in 1990, by the further purchase of the adjoining residence of Jimmy Buffett
and Jane Buffett for $18.5 million using as titular buyer Via Marina LLC. Stryker has also maintained one or more residences in Kalamazoo, and in 2003 surprised himself by finding that a commercial building he bought in Kalamazoo formerly housed his grandfather's Orthopedic Frame Co. which became Stryker Corp. Stryker is credited with built-space revitalization efforts in the city. Stryker has purchased an apartment in the Time Warner Center
in New York City
.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
and activist for social and environmental causes. He is a billionaire
Billionaire
A billionaire, in countries that use the short scale number naming system, is a person who has a net worth of at least one billion units of a given currency, usually the United States dollar, Euro, or Pound sterling. Forbes magazine updates a complete list of U.S. dollar billionaires around the...
stockholder and heir to the Stryker Corporation medical supply company fortunes of grandfather Homer Stryker
Homer Stryker
Homer Hartmen Stryker, M.D., was the founder of Stryker Corp., a medical supply corporation.Dr. Stryker grew up in Athens, Michigan, a small farming community in Southern Michigan, before earning a teaching certificate from Western Michigan University in 1916. He taught in local schools before...
alongside sisters Pat
Pat Stryker
Patricia A. Stryker is the granddaughter of Homer Stryker, surgeon and founder of Stryker Corporation, a medical technology company....
and Ronda. In 2010, his net worth was estimated at $1.2 billion.
Stryker is the founder and President of Arcus Foundation
Arcus Foundation
Arcus Foundation is a private foundation in the United States, that supports groups working globally to promote great ape conservation as well as supporting human social justice causes, including sexual orientation, gender, racial equality and rights, and pluralism, particularly through the...
, an international foundation supporting Great Ape conservation and social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
endeavors. The threatened colobine species Rhinopithecus strykeri is named for him.
Family and education
Stryker is the grandson of Homer Hartmen Stryker, founder of the medical supply company Stryker Corporation. Jon Lloyd's father, Lee Stryker, died in an airplane crash in 1976.Stryker received his Bachelor's of Arts/Science from Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College, also known as K College or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1833, the college is among the 100 oldest in the country. Today, it produces more Peace Corps volunteers per capita than any other U.S...
in 1982. He later served on the college's Board of Trustees and was recipient of their 2010 Distinguished Service Award. He received his Master of Architecture
Master of Architecture
The Master of Architecture is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation that result in receiving a license.-Overview:...
from University of California at Berkeley.
Stryker is a registered architect in Michigan and is President of Depot Landmark LLC, a development company specializing in the rehabilitation of historic buildings.
Philanthropy and activism
Stryker has donated over $247 million to charitable organizations, supporting primatePrimate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
conservation and LGBT rights.
Primate conservation
Stryker is founder and President of the Arcus FoundationArcus Foundation
Arcus Foundation is a private foundation in the United States, that supports groups working globally to promote great ape conservation as well as supporting human social justice causes, including sexual orientation, gender, racial equality and rights, and pluralism, particularly through the...
, a private foundation that supports great ape conservation as well as human social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
causes including sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and gender equality
Gender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
. He is a founding Board Member of the Ol Pejeta Wildlife Conservancy in Northern Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Save the Chimps
Save the Chimps
Save the Chimps is a publicly financed 501nonprofit American animal sanctuary specializing in the care of chimpanzees. The organization utilizes two separate locations: a temporary sanctuary within a former biomedical research lab located in Alamogordo, New Mexico and a chimpanzee-centric facility...
in Fort Pierce, Florida
Fort Pierce, Florida
Fort Pierce, also spelled Ft. Pierce, is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, USA. It is known as The Sunrise City. The population was 37,959 at the 2004 census. As of 2008, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 41,000. It is the county seat of St. Lucie County.Fort Pierce is part...
and Greenleaf Trust in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
.
Naming of Rhinopithecus strykeri
In 2010, the newly-discovered Myanmar Snub-nosed MonkeyMyanmar snub-nosed monkey
The Myanmar snub-nosed monkey or Burmese snub-nosed monkey is a highly threatened species of colobine monkey found in northern Burma . The species is known in local dialects as mey nwoah . Rain allegedly causes it to sneeze due to the short upturned nasal flesh around its nostrils...
was named Rhinopithecus strykeri in his honor; Stryker's Arcus Foundation
Arcus Foundation
Arcus Foundation is a private foundation in the United States, that supports groups working globally to promote great ape conservation as well as supporting human social justice causes, including sexual orientation, gender, racial equality and rights, and pluralism, particularly through the...
had supported the primate research teams who discovered the colobine, already known and hunted for food by natives in Northern Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
on the Maw River, during the course of a survey of Hoolock Gibbon
Hoolock gibbon
The hoolock gibbons , also known as hoolocks, are two primate species from the family of the gibbons .Hoolocks are the second largest of the gibbons, after the Siamang. They reach a size of 60 to 90 cm and weigh 6 to 9 kg...
s.
Social justice and human rights
Stryker's Arcus FoundationArcus Foundation
Arcus Foundation is a private foundation in the United States, that supports groups working globally to promote great ape conservation as well as supporting human social justice causes, including sexual orientation, gender, racial equality and rights, and pluralism, particularly through the...
supports groups advancing gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, bisexual and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
(GLBT) human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
. Stryker is a Platinum Council (US $50,000 and over annual contributions) donor to the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBT public officials in US political life.The Victory Fund was founded in 1991...
.
In 2009, Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo College, also known as K College or simply K, is a private liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1833, the college is among the 100 oldest in the country. Today, it produces more Peace Corps volunteers per capita than any other U.S...
received a $200,000 planning grant from Stryker's Arcus Foundation to prepare for the establishment of a social justice leadership center.
Visual artist Nan Goldin
Nan Goldin
Nancy "Nan" Goldin is an American photographer.-Life and work:Goldin was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in the Boston, Massachusetts suburb of Lexington, to middle class Jewish parents whose ideas, moderately liberal and progressive, were put to the test when on April 12, 1965 their eldest...
's work in Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography has been supported by the purchase and exhibition of silver dye bleach prints "through the generosity of" Stryker.
Political contributions
Stryker formed the political action committeePolitical action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
Coalition for Progress in August 2006 to fund election campaigns for Michigan Senate
Michigan Senate
The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. The Senate consists of 38 members, who are elected from constituencies having approximately 212,400 to 263,500 residents....
and Michigan House of Representatives district candidates, particularly from the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. Stryker personally contributed $4.7 million while sister Pat Stryker
Pat Stryker
Patricia A. Stryker is the granddaughter of Homer Stryker, surgeon and founder of Stryker Corporation, a medical technology company....
contributed $500,000 by November 2006. In the 2006 Michigan gubernatorial election
Michigan gubernatorial election, 2006
The Michigan gubernatorial election of 2006 was one of the 36 U.S. gubernatorial elections held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm was re-elected over Republican businessman Dick DeVos, Libertarian Gregory Creswell, Green Douglas Campbell, and U.S. Taxpayer Candidate...
, Jennifer Granholm
Jennifer Granholm
Jennifer Mulhern Granholm is a Canadian-born American politician, educator, and author who served as Attorney General and 47th Governor of the U.S. state of Michigan. A member of the Democratic Party, Granholm became Michigan's first female governor on January 1, 2003, when she succeeded Governor...
was re-elected as Governor of Michigan
Governor of Michigan
The Governor of Michigan is the chief executive of the U.S. State of Michigan. The current Governor is Rick Snyder, a member of the Republican Party.-Gubernatorial elections and term of office:...
over Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
opponent Dick DeVos
Dick DeVos
Dick DeVos is a businessman and Republican politician from Michigan. The son of billionaire Amway co-founder Richard DeVos, he served as CEO of the multi-level marketing consumer goods distribution company from 1993–2002...
, the subject of advertising paid for by the Coalition.
Personal life
Stryker is divorced and has two children. Stryker is gay.In June 2010, Stryker enlarged his contiguous residential property in Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...
, initially enlarged by purchasing the ocean-access lot next to the one containing his 1924 Mediterranean-style house designed by Marion Sims Wyeth
Marion Sims Wyeth
Marion Sims Wyeth was an American architect who designed numerous mansions in Florida.He was born in New York City. Wyeth's father John Allan Wyeth founded in 1882 the New York Polyclinic Hospital . His grandfather J. Marion Sims founded the country's first Women's Hospital in 1855 Marion Sims...
, whose west facade was designated a landmark in 1990, by the further purchase of the adjoining residence of Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
and Jane Buffett for $18.5 million using as titular buyer Via Marina LLC. Stryker has also maintained one or more residences in Kalamazoo, and in 2003 surprised himself by finding that a commercial building he bought in Kalamazoo formerly housed his grandfather's Orthopedic Frame Co. which became Stryker Corp. Stryker is credited with built-space revitalization efforts in the city. Stryker has purchased an apartment in the Time Warner Center
Time Warner Center
The Time Warner Center is a mixed-use skyscraper developed by AREA Property Partners and The Related Companies in New York City. Its design, by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, consists of two 750 ft towers bridged by a multi-story atrium containing upscale retail shops...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.