Sheldon L. Baskin ’58

Sheldon died June 26, 2017, in Chicago following battles with several cancers over the last decade.

He came to Princeton from Highland Park (Ill.) High School. At Princeton Sheldon majored in economics, roomed with Doug Weil during his senior year, graduated summa cum laude, and won a prize for his senior thesis on baseball and anti-trust laws. While the rest of us were in Firestone writing our theses, Sheldon was at spring training interviewing ballplayers. He was chairman of Hillel and advertising manager of The Daily Princetonian. Sheldon also earned a law degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics.

Sheldon was among the few who did well while doing good. At the height of his career he managed more than 15,000 moderate- and low-income housing units, mainly in the Chicago area. He also owned properties in Bolivia, Honduras, and Uruguay. Sheldon was an extremely generous person. He was a major contributor to Facing History and Ourselves and other charities.

A big sports fan, Sheldon never missed attending an Olympics. He satisfied a lifelong dream by becoming a partial owner of the Chicago White Sox and was buried in a White Sox jersey. The class extends its condolences to his wife, Judy; his three children; and two grandchildren.