David Haas

David W. Haas "has been Chairman of William Penn Foundation since 1998. Mr. Haas served as Vice Chairman of William Penn Foundation from 1996 to 1998. He has been Director Rohm & Haas Co., since 1999."

• Chair, Grantmakers in Film and Electronic Media
• Trustee, Phoebe Haas Charitable Trust

Background

"Having seen their holdings rise dramatically with the sale of Rohm & Haas Co., Haas family heirs have reorganized their trusts and shifted $1.25 billion to charitable foundations, it was announced yesterday.

"Of that figure, $747 million is to go to the William Penn Foundation, long the family's local charitable arm. The new money brings the William Penn endowment to $1.9 billion, a 67 percent increase. The William Penn Foundation specifically benefits the Philadelphia region.

"An additional $502 million has been set aside for a new entity, the Wyncote Foundation, "to support the charitable interests of the members of the Haas family," according to the Haas trusts. Maureen Garrity, a spokeswoman for the Haas trusts, said the foundation's direction was still to be determined. The four sons of John C. Haas will serve on the foundation's board.

"The shift in funds was attributed to the elder Haas, the 91-year-old son of Otto Haas, the cofounder of the Rohm & Haas company, the source of both the family's riches and its ability to be one of Philadelphia's greatest sources of philanthropy.

"Otto Haas and his wife, Phoebe, created two family and four charitable trusts, now controlled by their heirs. The $1.25 billion shifted to the foundations came from those trusts.

"The trusts held millions of shares of Rohm & Haas, which jumped in value earlier this year when the firm was bought by Dow Chemical Co. The four charitable trusts were estimated to be worth $2.7 billion after the sale...

"The William Penn Foundation was founded by Otto and Phoebe Haas in 1945. Its board is chaired by David Haas, son of John C. Haas and grandson of Otto Haas. David Haas is part of a local investors group that is seeking to acquire Philadelphia Newspapers L.L.C., which owns The Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com."