John William Sterling

John William Sterling ( born May 12, 1844 in Stratford, Connecticut, USA, † July 5, 1918 at the Estevan Lodge, Quebec, Canada) was an American lawyer, philanthropist and the most important patron of Yale University.

Education and work

Sterling graduated from Yale University in 1864 with a BA from and was admitted three years later in court. In 1874 he received his M. A. and in 1893 the Doctor of Law ( LL.D. ) from Columbia Law School. He was a corporate lawyer in New York and represented, among others, Jay Gould, James Fisk, the City Bank of New York and Standard Oil. In 1873 he founded, together with the priority working as a defense lawyer Thomas G. Shearman which still exists today Shearman & Sterling law firm within which Sterling continued its activities dedicated corporate lawyer and established extensive relationships between clients and business representatives.

Private life

Sterling remained unmarried all his life and met James Orville Bloss 1870 (30 September 1847-15. December 1918 ), his roommate at Yale University, who remained his friend and life partner for 50 years and died only a few months after him. At his death, the University of Yale Sterling left a sum of 18 million U.S. dollars, which in 2003 corresponded to a value of 180 million U.S. dollars. This was the highest so far donated by an individual of a private university amount. A portion of the bequest was used for the establishment of the Sterling Professor shaft.

Sterling is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery, where he had during his lifetime to build a mausoleum in which his side also Bloss and his sister Cordelia (March 18, 1846-1931 ) to the extent not married at her death, should be buried.