Jerome Davis Greene

Jerome Davis Greene (October 12, 1874 – March 29, 1959) was an American philanthropist, secretary, and banker. He served as the director for the Harvard Tercentenary celebration, was a founding member of the Rockefeller Foundation, and was joint secretary of the First world war reparations committee.

Born in Yokohama, Japan to American missionaries, he moved to the United States as a teenager where he attended Newton High School. Educated at Harvard University he received his Artium baccalaureatus in 1896. Greene's career began in earnest in 1901 when he became secretary to the Harvard Corporation, enabling him to come into contact with John D. Rockefeller. In 1915, Greene returned to college to complete his Artium Magister at Rutgers University.

Greene was a fixture in Cambridge, Massachusetts during his life, serving on the board of overseers for Harvard three separate times from 1911 to 1950 and leading preparations for Harvard's 300th anniversary. When he wasn't engaged with Harvard, he pursued philanthropic efforts by working with the Rockefeller Foundation, founding the American Social Hygiene Association, and the Institute for Government Research, now known as the Brookings Institution.

In 1932, Greene met with misfortune, losing much of his wealth when Lee, Higginson & Co., of which Greene was director at the time, collapsed due to the Kreuger & Toll match scandal.

Greene's family includes several notable figures. He was the great-nephew of William M. Evarts, a United States Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Senator. He was also a descendant of Roger Sherman, a Founding Father of the United States.