Throughout
their lives, Mr. And Mrs. Krannert were great humanitarians. Following the
completion of the Krannert Art Museum, they decided the last of their multimillion
dollar gifts would be to the University of Illinois in the form of the Krannert
Center for the Performing Arts. In addition, their major gifts included: Indiana
University's Medical Arts Center, Purdue University's Krannert Building (Indianapolis),
Purdue University's Graduate School of Industrial Administration (West Lafayette),
University of Evansville's Krannert Hall of Fine Arts, Indiana Central College's
Krannert Hall (dormitory), Indianapolis Methodist Hospital's Cardiovascular
Wing, Indianapolis Museum of Art's Krannert Pavilion, and Marion County General
Hospital's Heart Research Institute.
Around time of the opening of the Center, one
of Mr. Krannert's former Engineering professors approached him commenting
that surely Mr. Krannert was aware of how badly the College of Engineering
needed new lab facilities. He asked why they decided to give the University
the gift of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and not an Engineering
lab. Mr. Krannert replied: "Because engineers need the arts more than
they need another lab."
The Center is but one of the Centers of Excellence
which the Krannerts Developed in education, medicine, science, and the arts.
Located chiefly in the Midwest, the centers were conceived by Mr. and Mrs.
Krannert as a way of reinvesting in society and in the economy a portion of
the dividends that the free enterprise system had enabled them to earn. Their
main objective was to encourage, through public facilities, the advancement
of learning, culture, and general well-being.
Herman Charles Krannert
In 1912, he graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in Mechanical
Engineering. In 1925, he founded the Inland Container Corporation, the third
largest manufacturer of packaging materials in the world. His company was
instrumental in the development of a process to produce corrugated cardboard.
His company also developed a waxing process to waterproof cardboard, allowing
it to be used instead of wood for shipping crates. Mr. Krannert received honorary
degrees from five different Midwestern schools in law, administration, and
humanities. He died in Clearwater, Florida on February 24, 1972.
Ellnora Decker Krannert
She graduated from Brenau College in Gainesville, Georgia, with a degree in
music. Her own interests included literature and the arts. She collected rare
editions of the classics, French furniture, 18th century porcelain, and paintings.
Some of the original collection in the Krannert Art Museum came from Mrs.
Krannert's private collection. She also raised a herd of Guernsey cattle.
Mrs. Krannert received honorary degrees from five colleges in the humanities,
music, law, and the arts. She and her husband did not have children. Mrs.
Krannert died in Indianapolis, Indiana, on July 6th, 1974.
Ellnora Decker Krannert and Herman Charles Krannert