Arts & Entertainment
David Grainger, Chicago Businessman and Philanthropist, Dies at 97

David W. Grainger, a longtime supporter of WTTW who led W.W. Grainger Inc. for almost three decades and ran a family foundation dedicated to making a “positive difference,” died Jan. 9 at age 97.
Grainger was born in 1927, the year his father started his namesake business that would go on to become a Fortune 300 operation focused on the global sale of maintenance, repair and operating products.
A graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a degree in electrical engineering, Grainger’s college years bookended service in the U.S. Army Air Force where he spent time as the manager of the Airborne Radar Tech School at Boca Raton Air Base. He earned his own pilot’s license in 1947.
It was at the University of Wisconsin that he met Juli Plant, an economics graduate. The pair married in 1949.
Grainger in the early 1950s joined the family business, where he would spend the rest of his career. He served as chairman and CEO from 1968 to 1997 and was known for an attention to detail and innovative approaches. The company grew to 15,000 employees and generated more than $4 billion in annual revenue under his leadership, according to information provided by W. W. Grainger.
It was through The Grainger Foundation that David Grainger and his family supported a wide range of institutions focused on education, health care and culture. He ran the foundation with major involvement from his wife from 1979 to 2021.
The engineering school at the University of Illinois was named the Grainger College of Engineering in 2019, in honor of William Wallace Grainger, a 1919 graduate and David Grainger’s father.
The University of Wisconsin, Mayo Clinic, Rush University Medical Center, Field Museum, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry and WTTW all received support from the foundation.
The Grainger Foundation Studio Control and Audio suite at WTTW.
At WTTW, the foundation endowed the station’s largest studio, the Grainger Studio, and provided a gift that enabled the creation of The Grainger Foundation Studio Control and Audio suite, which is used in the production of WTTW News programs.
The foundation also helps support “Chicago Stories,” “Nature Cat,” “Firsthand,” “Chicago Tonight: In Your Neighborhood” and WFMT special programming.
Grainger, a longtime resident of Winnetka and Lake Forest, was preceded in death by his wife, Juli. He is survived by children Susan L. Grainger, Thomas P. (Elizabeth) Grainger, Nancy Burgermeister, and four grandchildren.
Memorial services are private.
The Grainger Studio at WTTW.