2 Fred & Barbara Devoted parents, grandparents, and long-time civic leaders, Fred and Barbara Erb’s philanthropy was strongly influenced by their desire to create a better world for both current and future generations. Born February 1 1, 1923 in Detroit, Fred attended Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills where he excelled in sports, music, science, and math. Fred went on to study engineering at Cornell University. In 1942 he transferred to the University of Michigan where he met his wife Barbara. With the onset of World War II, Fred joined the Army Enlisted Reserve and was called to active duty in June 1943. While stationed in Maryland he spent his weekends in New York City listening to jazz greats like Art Tatum, Billie Holiday, and Sidney Bechet, furthering what would become a lifelong love of jazz. Afterthewar,FredandBarbaramarriedand Fred resumed his education at Michigan. Having decided that he wanted to be an entrepreneur, Fred transferred from engineer- ingtobusinessandearnedhisBBAdegree with honorsin1947.Shortlyafter graduation, Fred went to work for his uncle’s lumber and coal business in Royal Oak. The business could not support salaries for two managers, so the day Fred began, he learned that his uncle was leaving. He told Fred, “You’re running the company now.” Stunned, Fred took the helm. Starting with seven employees, one store, and sales approaching $170,000 (one third of which was coal), the next year the company’s sales rose to $300,000 and the following year to $1,000,000. By the 1970’s Erb Lumber became the largest lumber supplier in Michigan. When Fred sold the business in 1993, it was a multi-state enterprise covering 45 locations with 1,300 employees and generating $280 million in sales (none of which was coal). Fred was also active in real estate development, often lend- ing money to new builders unable to access traditional financing—a further reflection of his entrepreneurial spirit. Barbara Erb was born in Detroit on April 17, 1924 as Barbara Jean Morley. Barba- ra grew up in Pleasant Ridge and gradu- ated from Lincoln High School in Ferndale. As a young child, Barbara and her family spent their summers in Bayfield, Ontario, the lakeside community she cherished. It was her summers on the shores of Lake Huron that instilled in Barbara a lifelong love and respect for the Great Lakes and the natural environment, which would later influence her philanthropy. Barbara attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor from 1942 to 1944 where she met Fred, her husband of 66 years, at a New Year’s Eve celebration. They were engaged a year later. While Fred was stationed in Okinawa, Barbara worked as the secretary for the headmaster of Cranbrook School where she would type a letter to Fred every day. An early environmental activist, Barbara was an organic gardener committed to nutrition and wholesome eating long before these issues became mainstream. She lec- tured on organic gardening, frequented the local farmers markets, took her recyclables to the DPW, and was known in every health food store in town. Barbara also believed that travel broadened perspectives. As a young mother, she made sure her four children were exposed to natural beauty through frequent trips to the Great Lakes and to more exotic environments, such as Kenya and the Galapagos Islands. Always community minded, Barbara’s philanthropy included leadership roles with a broad array of organizations. Fred and Barbara’s desire to create a bet- ter world for current and future generations, together with their successful family business experience, their shared love of the outdoors, and their deep sense of fairness and justice, naturally led them to view their philanthropy through the lens of sustainability—develop- ment that harmonizes economic, environmen- tal, and social interests, meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future. After years of charitable giving, Fred and Barbara made their largest gift ever to create the Frederick A. and Barbara M. Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, a joint Master’s degree program between the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and School of Environment and Sustainability (formerly School of Natural Resources and Environment). In 2007, as parents and grandparents with a concern for the environment and a love of the arts, Fred and Barbara established the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, with a mission of nurturing environmentally healthy and culturally vibrant communities in metro Detroit, consistent with sustainable business models, and supporting initiatives to restore the Great Lakes Ecosystem.