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Howard Ahmanson Jr.

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Howard Ahmanson Jr.

Howard Fieldstad Ahmanson Jr. (born February 3, 1950) is an American Christian philanthropist. He is the son of Howard F. Ahmanson Sr., the founder of Home Savings Bank.

Ahmanson was born on February 3, 1950. He is the son of Dorothy Johnston Grannis and the American financier Howard F. Ahmanson Sr. (1906–1968). His father was a prominent businessman in the savings and loan industry; Howard Sr. founded H.F. Ahmanson & Co., which thrived in the Great Depression and ultimately expanded throughout California and into New York state, Arizona and Florida. His father was well known for his support of the arts, an area in which Ahmanson has continued to be active.

His parents divorced when he was ten years old. Despite the trappings of wealth, Howard Jr. was a lonely child. He has said, "I resented my family background, [my father] could never be a role model, whether by habits or his lifestyle, it was never anything I wanted." His father died when he was eighteen, and Ahmanson inherited the family's fortune.

He attended Occidental College, where he obtained a degree in economics. He then toured Europe, but returned because of complications with arthritis. He earned a master's degree in linguistics at the University of Texas at Arlington.

In 1986, Howard married journalist Roberta Green.

Fieldstead and Company, Howard and Roberta Ahmanson's personal office, has a steady history of contributing parts of his father's inherited fortune to a plethora of organizations and initiatives. It is stated that the mission of Fieldstead and Company is to "make the world more like ... a place where there is no darkness, no sickness, no hunger or thirst, no slavery, no prisoners, no tears, no death". The following is a list of organizations to which the Ahmansons have contributed significant amounts in the past:

Howard has previously served as a board member for both the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation and the Claremont Institute. Ahmanson is a major supporter of the Discovery Institute, whose Center for Science and Culture supports ideas centered around intelligent design. Through Fieldstead, Ahmanson's wife Roberta, a former religion reporter and editor for the Orange County Register, has funded and been directly involved with some programs of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, including the Washington Journalism Center that encompasses both the Summer Institute of Journalism, and the Fieldstead Journalism Lectures. Fieldstead has funded other Christian journalistic projects such as Gegrapha and GetReligion. A common thread in all of these organizations is Terry Mattingly, a personal friend of Roberta Ahmanson, who directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, teaches journalism, and writes a weekly column for the Scripps-Howard News Service. Roberta Ahmanson recently co-edited a book called Blind Spot. Howard and Roberta are also supporters of The Media Project, an organization that "educates journalists on the importance of religion" and its digital magazine, Religion Unplugged. The Ahmansons have also supported the creation of the 29-volume Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, published by InterVarsity Press.

Ahmanson was a major advocate for the abolition of California redevelopment agencies, especially concerned about what he viewed as the widespread abuse of eminent domain and public subsidies. He financed the publication "Redevelopment: The Unknown Government" and the formation of Municipal Officials for Redevelopment Reform (MORR), alongside Chris Norby, California legislator and former mayor of Fullerton, California, in 1995. Norby later served in the California State Assembly when redevelopment agencies were abolished in 2011 and MORR was disbanded, having succeeded in its sole purpose.

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