Larry Phillips, a philanthropist and businessman who helped found American Jewish World Service, has died. He was 88.

Phillips, whose family created the Phillips-Van Heusen fashion conglomerate, helped found AJWS in 1985 along with Larry Simon, now a prominent Brandeis University professor.

“We owe our existence today to their passion, compassion and dedication to applying Jewish values toward building a more just and equitable world,” AJWS president Ruth Messinger said.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Phillips wanted to create an aid organization with a specifically Jewish focus after feeling isolated as the only Jew on the board of another major aid group. He served as AJWS’s earliest financial investor and first board chair.

With Phillips’ seed money AJWS was able in its early years to fund organizations creating economic opportunities for the “untouchable” Dalit caste in India; respond to the 1986 volcano disaster in Colombia; and promote new technology and methods for safely storing grain that helped small-scale farmers worldwide save their crops to stave off hunger.

Throughout his life, Phillips remained a generous supporter of AJWS and served for many years on the AJWS board of trustees.

“There is so much more hunger and poverty in the world,” he said. “We haven’t scratched the surface, but we’ve had, I think, considerable success.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount