Jeffrey Lurie

Jeffrey Robert Lurie (born September 8, 1951) is an American businessman and the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL), as well as an occasional motion picture producer. Early life and education Lurie was born to a Jewish family in Boston, the son of Nancy (née Smith) and Morris John Lurie. His grandfather, Philip Smith, founded the General Cinema movie theater chain, which was one of the largest operators of drive-in movie theaters in the United States. His uncle is Richard A. Smith. He has two siblings, Peter and Cathy. His father died April 14, 1961, at the age of 44 when Jeffrey was nine years old. In the late 1960s, General Cinema began acquiring bottling franchises, including a Pepsi bottling operation. General Cinema evolved over the years into Harcourt General Inc., a $3.7-billion conglomerate based in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, with 23,700 employees worldwide. In its heyday it was the nation's fourth-largest chain of movie theaters, owned several publishing houses, three insurance companies, and a leading global consulting firm. In 1984 minority interest in Carter Hawley Hale was acquired, which was at the time the tenth-largest clothing retailer in the United States, including Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman-Marcus. Lurie earned a B.A. from Clark University, a master's degree in psychology from Boston University, and a doctorate in social policy from The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, where he wrote his thesis on the depiction of women in Hollywood movies. He was born to Jewish parents but has spent his adult life as a non-practicing Jew. Prior to entering business, Lurie served as an adjunct assistant professor of social policy at Boston University.