Paul R. Judy was CEO of the investment bank A.G. Becker & Co. in the 1970s and 1980s and as a civic leader is credited with strengthening Chicago cultural institutions, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Paul was encyclopedic in his knowledge and relentless in his execution,” said former Dun & Bradstreet Chairman and CEO Tom Manning, who chairs the Chicago Philharmonic’s board. “Paul taught me about business, about leadership and about striving for excellence — he was a perfectionist and expected no less of himself and everyone around him.”
Judy, 93, died of complications from COVID-19 on Feb. 24, said his granddaughter Catriona Duncan. He divided his time between homes on the North Shore, in Naples, Florida, and on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts.
Born in Portland, Indiana, Judy grew up in nearby Muncie and received a bachelor’s degree in the physical sciences in 1953 from Harvard University, where he earned letters in track and cross country.
After college, Judy served in the Marine Corps, primarily as a machine gun and mortar platoon leader, his family said. He subsequently got an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1957.
While in business school, Judy took an interest in the case method, a teaching approach that helps students understand past decisions by placing students in the roles of those who made them. One of Judy’s business school professors, Charles M. Williams, was known for his use of the case method, and in his first year after earning his MBA, Judy stayed at Harvard to work for Williams as a research assistant.
Judy started at A.G. Becker in 1958, and the following year he moved to Wheaton, where he and his wife bought a notable and historic 19th-century gingerbread-style home across from the Chicago Golf Club.
Judy was promoted to vice president of corporate finance in 1961, and moved to New York City in 1962 to open an office for A.G. Becker.
Judy returned to the Chicago area in 1965 when he was named chairman of A.G. Becker’s executive committee. He was promoted to CEO and president in 1968 and chairman in 1971.
“When I first met him, he was already something of a legend. He was in charge of the largest investment bank outside of New York and was playing a large role in leading the securities industry,” Manning said. “His reputation as a keen competitor and thoughtful collaborator was already established, and it was clear that his peers thought highly of him.”
Judy’s dealmaking skills helped A.G. Becker grow from a $20 million-a-year operation in 1967 to a $135 million-a-year operation a decade later, the Tribune wrote in 1981.
“He was the consummate financier — a rainmaker who not only brought in clients but negotiated every deal from start to finish and then delivered satisfaction that kept winning more trust over and over,” Manning said.
In 1974, Judy oversaw and championed another deal when A.G. Becker joined forces with two European investment firms, S.G. Warburg and Banque de Paribas. He stepped down as CEO in 1978 and exited as A.G. Becker’s chairman in 1981, at age 50. After his departure, the merged entity was taken over by Paribas, which then sold A.G. Becker to Merrill Lynch in 1984.
After leaving A.G. Becker, he served on a variety of corporate boards in the 1980s, including Borg-Warner, Nicor Gas and Chicago Pacific, which was the reorganized successor to the bankrupt Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. For a time, Judy also ran his own business, a small equipment leasing company in Rhode Island, said his daughter, Beth.
In 1969, he was named a governing member of the CSO’s nonprofit Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, and he became a full trustee the following year. In 1977, he was named the association’s president and CEO, succeeding Marshall Field & Co. Chairman Joseph A. Burnham, who had died at age 57.
Judy gained plaudits for getting the CSO’s investment portfolio in order, and he also worked to expand the orchestra’s fundraising base. He stepped down as CEO in 1980, but remained a life trustee.
In the early 1990s, Judy founded the Symphony Orchestra Institute, a group aimed at fostering greater effectiveness in how North American symphony organizations functioned.
“The idea behind it was to apply organizational theory to symphony orchestra organizations,” Beth Judy said. “My dad wanted orchestra music to go on into the future, and he wanted these organizations to be viable.”
Former CSO Association President Henry Fogel said Judy was generous with both money and insight. He called the Symphony Orchestra Institute a “kind of think tank for American orchestras.”
“Paul was so much more than just a supporter of the arts,” he said. “He did give generous financial support to the CSO, and to many other organizations as well. But he also gave wisdom and intellectual capital to the world of music.”
In 2012, Judy was elected board chairman of the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra’s corporate parent, the Chicago Philharmonic Society. Judy sought to pattern a new business model after the player-run St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, with the idea that musicians would have a greater voice in their own artistic affairs.
“Paul made it his mission to strengthen the Chicago Philharmonic financially and to deepen its emphasis on musician involvement in self-governance,” Manning said. “His efforts have resulted in a strong, sustainable orchestra that is today regarded by observers as among the nation’s best and most progressive.”
Judy remained on the board of the Chicago Philharmonic Society until his death.
Judy enjoyed historical research, and in 2017 published an online history of A.G. Becker & Co. He also wrote and published a monograph about a Nantucket Island golf course, and in 2020, he wrote and published a book about a noted Nantucket philanthropist, Oswald Tupancy.
In addition to his daughter and granddaughter, Judy is survived by his wife of 69 years, Mary Ann; two other daughters, Carol Cronin and Hannah Judy Gretz; a son, John; six other grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and a sister, Lee Fryer.
A private service is being planned.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
