Oates, James F. (James Franklin), 1899-1982

Lawyer, corporation executive, and educational philanthropist.

From the description of James F. Oates, Jr. Papers, 1924-1982. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122275873

James Franklin Oates, Jr. was born November 11, 1899 in Evanston, Illinois, the eldest son of James Franklin and Henrietta Jennings Oates. He attended Northwestern University Law School from 1921-1924 and was a member of the Illinois Bar. Oates served as a partner at Cutting, Moore and Sidley, Chief of Purchase Policy in the Army Ordnance Department, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Peoples Light, Gas, and Coke Company of Chicago, and Chairman of the Board of Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. He was also active in various philanthropic and educational causes.

Oates had one brother, Whitney (1904-1974), who taught classics at Princeton University. Oates's father was the Executive Secretary and President of the Chicago YMCA and a general agent for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. He also was a member of the Northwestern University Board of Trustees from 1914 to 1946 and a Life Trustee from 1946 until his death in 1954. From 1919 to 1948 the senior Oates served as Secretary of the Board.

James F. Oates, Jr. attended the Evanston Academy of Northwestern University in 1915 and 1916, graduated from the Phillips Exeter Academy in 1917 and entered Northwestern in 1917. He withdrew in 1918 to join the Army. He served as a Second Lieutenant in the Machine Gun Corps at Fort Sheridan, Illinois and at Camp Hancock, Georgia. In 1919 he was mustered out and enrolled at Princeton, from which he received his B.S. in 1921. He attended the Northwestern University Law School from 1921 to 1924 and upon graduation was admitted to the Illinois Bar.

Oates joined the trial division of the firm of Cutting, Moore and Sidley in 1924. He became a partner in 1931 and eventually was chosen to head the trial division. Oates was heavily involved with utility, oil company, railroad, and particularly bankruptcy litigation during his twenty-four years with the firm.

In 1942 Oates took leave from his law practice to become legal advisor to the U.S. Army's Chicago Ordnance District. He was called to Washington later in 1942 to serve as Chief of Purchase Policy, Army Ordnance Department, a post he held until 1944. Oates was primarily responsible for developing policies and procedures for contract negotiations between private industry and the War Department and monitoring contract compliance. He returned to his Chicago law practice in 1944.

Oates was elected Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Peoples Light, Gas, and Coke Company of Chicago in 1947. During the nine years he spent as chief executive, Oates transformed Peoples Gas from a local distributor into a fully integrated utility by developing gas production facilities in the Gulf States and purchasing or constructing pipelines to carry the gas to Chicago. Under Oates' leadership Peoples Gas quadrupled its assets.

In 1955 Oates became a member of the Board of Directors of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and two years later in 1957 was chosen to head the company, which was then the third largest insurance company in the country. In 1958 he became Chairman of the Board of Equitable as well as President and Chief Executive Officer. He held all three positions until 1964 when he relinquished the presidency. Oates' primary contributions to Equitable were in the areas of management policy and long range planning. He reorganized the company's management procedures and corporate hierarchy and promoted heavily from within, thus providing Equitable with ample experienced managerial talent for a period of rapid expansion. The total amount of Equitable's insurance in force grew by sixty percent under Oates. Oates also oversaw the construction of a new national headquarters building in Chicago. He pioneered the insurance industry's participation in urban renewal, through Equitable's underwriting of the Gateway Center Development in Pittsburgh which was completed in 1970.

During his career Oates was president of the Chicago Bar Association, the Chicago Commercial Club, and, like his father, the Chicago YMCA. He sat as a director on the boards of the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry, Chicago Community Fund, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He held numerous corporate directorships, including the First National Bank of Chicago, International Harvester, Great Northern Railway, Miehle, Goss & Dexter, Inc., Chase Manhattan Bank, Brooklyn Union Gas Company, and Colgate-Palmolive.

One of Oates' chief interests outside business was higher education. He served as an Alumni Trustee of Princeton and Chairman of its Executive Committee. He also chaired Princeton's 1959-62, $53 Million Fund Drive. He acted as the University orator, composing and reading all honorary degree citations at Commencement. Oates also was an honorary trustee of George Williams College. He served as a member of the Northwestern University Board of Trustees from 1948 to 1957, and thereafter served as a Life Trustee. He was active in fund raising for the University and the Law School in particular.

Oates received honorary degrees from Illinois College, Lake Forest College, George Williams College, Hampden-Sydney College, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Pace College, Willamette University, Hamline University, Centre College, Presbyterian College, and Butler University. Among the awards bestowed upon him are the 1921 Distinguished Service Award from Princeton, the Gold Medal of Merit Award from the Wharton School, the John Phillips Award from the Phillips Exeter Academy, the John S. Myrich Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee, and the Alumni Medal from Northwestern.

In addition to his chairmanship of the Jobs for Veterans Committee, Oates served on the President's Committee on Youth Employment and the Business Men's Committee for Tax Reduction under President Kennedy. He also was a member of the President's Committee on Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke, appointed by President Johnson, and served on the New York State Commission on Quality, Cost, and Financing of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Oates married Rosalind Wright in 1925. They had two children, Dr. James F. Oates III and Rosalind Oates Pearse. Oates died on October 22, 1982.

From the guide to the James Franklin Oates, Jr. (1899-1982) Papers, 1924-1981, (Northwestern University Archives)