Edgar Bloom Stern Sr. (1886–1959) was an American leader in civic, racial, business and governmental affairs for the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. He was successful at an early age in the cotton business in New Orleans, later diversifying into other businesses. Stern was an organizer of Dillard University, Flint Goodridge Hospital, and the Bureau for Governmental Research. Stern's family home, Longue Vue House and Gardens, is now a museum open to the public.

Edgar Stern was born in 1886 in New Orleans as the second son of Maurice Stern and Hannah Bloom Stern. His family was Jewish. Maurice had immigrated to New Orleans from Germany in 1871, beginning employment with cotton factors in the city. Maurice Stern succeeded in the cotton trade, and by 1883 his firm of employment bore his name, Lehman, Stern and Company. Maurice married Hannah Bloom in 1883, and his family benefited financially from his success as a cotton merchant.

For his family's affluence, Edgar Stern traveled frequently, became involved in charitable works, and became active in Temple Sinai synagogue, all beginning in early childhood. Stern attended New Orleans public schools, and subsequently enrolled in Tulane University. However, after one year, he transferred to Harvard University, where he obtained a scholarship. At Harvard, Stern earned a BA in 1907 and an MA in 1908.

Following his 1907 graduation from Harvard University, Stern began his employment with Lehman, Stern and Company in New Orleans in the cotton trade. Stern served as president of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange in 1927 and 1928. He also became involved in civic affairs, being elected to the Orleans Parish School Board and the Board of Directors for Charity Hospital of New Orleans in 1912. His involvement in business matters extended beyond cotton trading, and so he was elected president of the New Orleans Association of Commerce in 1915, a forerunner of the local Chamber of Commerce. Stern also became a director of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad in 1916.

During World War I, Stern served as a captain in the US Army's ordinance department. He was a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and director of the New Orleans branch of the Federal Reserve Bank in 1917 and 1918. During World War II, Stern served as the chairman of the transportation committee of the United States War Production Board, a position that he held for a salary of $1 per year. As part of his endeavors in international trade, Stern was a founder of International House in New Orleans in the mid-1940s. He served as a member of the board of directors of Sears, Roebuck and Company from 1932 to 1958. He was also a member of the boards of directors for Tulane University and for the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper. He was a trustee of the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library from 1932 to 1948. Stern was a trustee of the Julius Rosenwald Fund and of the Tuskegee Institute, in addition to being a member of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

In 1933, Stern was a founder of a bureau aimed at improving local government efficiency, especially for New Orleans. This organization later evolved into the Bureau of Governmental Research.

In 1947 Stern and his family purchased New Orleans radio station WDSU from the Stephens Broadcasting Co. Stern, together with his son Edgar Jr., then opened WDSU-TV one year later, its first broadcast being on December 18, 1948. This television station was the first in Louisiana, the 6th major television station in the South, and one of the first 50 stations in the United States.

Author Gerda Weissmann Klein published a list of business and civic positions that Stern held as of 1953.