John Robert Pike

Background

John Robert Pike was born on June 8, 1931, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Robert Frederick Pike and Helen Ann Hartmeyer Pike. Madison was the political and educational center of Wisconsin and the home of the University of Wisconsin, whose public institutions shaped much of the state's intellectual and civic life.

Pike served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956, including service in the Republic of Korea during the postwar period. His later career remained closely connected with Madison and with Wisconsin institutions in higher education, public investment, philanthropy, health care, and the arts.

Education

Pike studied economics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, receiving a Bachelor of Science with honors in Economics in 1953, a Master of Science in 1957, and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1963. The university, founded in 1848, was Wisconsin's flagship public research institution and developed a tradition of linking academic work with public service through the Wisconsin Idea.

He pursued postgraduate study at the London School of Economics in 1959. The London School of Economics, founded in 1895 as a specialist institution for the study of economics and the social sciences, provided an international setting for his advanced academic development.

Career

Pike began his professional career in academic finance. He was a professor of finance at the University of Illinois in Urbana from 1963 to 1968, during a period when American universities were expanding business education and quantitative approaches to financial analysis.

From 1968 to 1974, he served as executive director of the Wisconsin Investment Board in Madison. The board was responsible for administering and investing public retirement and trust assets, placing Pike in the field of public-sector finance and institutional investment.

Pike became deputy director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation in 1974 and managing director in 1976, remaining in the organization until his retirement in 1993. WARF was established in 1925 after Harry Steenbock's vitamin D research was assigned to the University of Wisconsin; it became an important model for the management and commercialization of university research. As managing director, Pike worked within an institution whose activities connected academic discovery, patent administration, licensing, and support for university research.

Alongside his foundation work, Pike served as a director of Menasha Woodenware and Menasha Corporation from 1977 to 1982. He also held a series of civic and institutional positions in Madison. He chaired the business and finance committee of the Madison Art Center from 1969 to 1976, served on the Wisconsin chapter board of The Nature Conservancy from 1971 to 1975, and was a member of the finance advisory board of the Wisconsin Building Commission from 1975 to 1981.

Pike served on the board of curators of the Wisconsin Historical Society from 1972 to 1981. He was a director of Madison General Hospital from 1975 to 1984 and chairman of its board from 1984 to 1986, followed by service as a director of Meriter Hospital from 1987 to 1990. He was also a director of the John A. Johnson Foundation from 1977 and a trustee of the William A. Vilas Trust Estate from 1978. After retiring from WARF in 1993, he continued his association with civic and philanthropic institutions.

Achievements

• Pike led the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation as managing director from 1976 to 1993, guiding an institution that administered university intellectual property and supported the transfer of research discoveries into practical use.

• Pike combined academic finance with public and nonprofit leadership, serving as executive director of the Wisconsin Investment Board and as a director or trustee of organizations in health care, conservation, history, the arts, and philanthropy.

Membership

Pike was a member of the American Finance Association, a professional organization devoted to research, teaching, and communication in finance. He also belonged to the Madison Club and the Madison Literary Club, organizations associated with civic and cultural life in Madison.

• American Finance Association , United States

• Madison Club , United States

• Madison Literary Club , United States

Connections

Pike married Ann H. Slichter on December 27, 1958. They had three children: Susanna, Elizabeth, and Kathryn. His parents were Robert Frederick Pike and Helen Ann Hartmeyer Pike.

Father:

Robert Frederick Pike

Mother:

Helen Ann Hartmeyer Pike

child:

Kathryn Pike

child:

Elizabeth Pike

child:

Susanna Pike

Wife:

Ann H. Slichter

References

• John Robert Pike obituary Obituary documenting Pike's birth on June 8, 1931, death on April 2, 2023, and residence in Kerrville, Texas.
  2023
• Statement of John R. Pike, Managing Director, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation A contemporaneous document identifying John R. Pike as managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
  1978