Robert Alan Pritzker (June 30, 1926 – October 27, 2011) was an American businessman and member of the wealthy Pritzker family.

Biography

Pritzker was born to a Jewish family, the Pritzker family, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Fanny (née Doppelt) and A.N. Pritzker. He has two brothers: Donald Pritzker and Jay Pritzker. Robert Pritzker received a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1946 and an honorary doctorate in 1984. He taught night courses at IIT and began serving on the board of trustees in 1962, and served as a University Regent until the time of his death. He also taught evening classes at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (now the Booth School of Business) in the late 1970s and through the 1980s. His class consisted of cases developed from actual business take-overs he was involved with, and students had to recommend whether or not to purchase the companies under study. Pritzker started The Marmon Group, an international association of autonomous manufacturing and service companies. Marmon's assets constitute half of the Pritzker family fortune. Robert's success can be partially attributed to his unique business structure, in which employees are trusted to make more key decisions, independent of the central office, than in other typical manufacturing settings. This independence allows for more creativity, and increases speed and productivity. Concurrently, Pritzker spent a year as Chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers. In 2002, Bob Pritzker retired from his position of President of The Marmon Group and assumed the role of President of Colson Associates, Inc., a holding company of caster, plastics moldling, hardware and medical companies, including Acumed, OsteoMed, and Precision Edge Surgical Products Company, among others.

Personal life

Pritzker was married three times: Robert Pritzker preferred to fly coach despite having access to a family-owned corporate jet: "If I ask my managers to go coach how can I go first class? That's leadership." Pritzker received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1983. Pritzker's nephew and namesake, J. B., was elected Governor of Illinois in 2018.