Frederick R. Koch

Frederick Robinson Koch ( ; August 26, 1933 – February 12, 2020) was an American collector and philanthropist, the eldest of the four sons born to American industrialist Fred Chase Koch, founder of what is now Koch Industries, and Mary Clementine (née Robinson) Koch. Early years Koch was born in Wichita, Kansas. His paternal grandfather, Harry Koch, was a Dutch immigrant, who founded the Quanah Tribune-Chief newspaper and was a founding shareholder of Quanah, Acme & Pacific Railway. Among his maternal great-great-grandparents were William Ingraham Kip, an Episcopal bishop; and Elizabeth Clementine Stedman, a writer. Beginning in eighth grade, Koch attended a boarding school called Pembroke-Country Day School in Kansas City, Missouri. He attended high school at Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York. Koch studied humanities at Harvard College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1955. His father and his three younger brothers, Charles G. Koch and twins David H. Koch and William I. Koch, studied chemical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and pursued business careers. After college, Koch enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving in Millington, Tennessee and then on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. Upon his return to civilian life, Koch enrolled at the Yale School of Drama, where his focus was playwriting. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the school in 1961.