Hudson-Webber Foundation Trustee Joseph L. Hudson, Jr. spoke to the Detroit Economic Club Tuesday, December 1st, about community engagement and local foundations.
Hudson said, “The change that I see happening (in Detroit) is the rise of the foundation participation.”
Mr. Hudson, born and raised in Buffalo, New York joined The J. L. Hudson Company following graduation from Yale University in 1953. In two previous summers he worked for three months each as a trainee. Between 1954 and 1956 he served as a first lieutenant artillery officer with the U.S. Army in Germany. In 1956 he returned to Hudson's, was elected a Vice President in 1957 and in 1961 became President and Chief Executive Officer. In 1972 Mr. Hudson assumed the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He retired from The J. L. Hudson Company and Dayton Hudson Corporation in 1982.
In 1969 The J. L. Hudson Company merged with Dayton's of Minneapolis, Minnesota to form Dayton Hudson Corporation, now Target, Inc. At that time, Mr. Hudson was elected Vice Chairman and a Director of Dayton Hudson.
In 1956 Mr. Hudson was elected to the board of trustees of the Hudson-Webber Foundation and served as President and then Chairman from 1961 until his retirement from that office in 1996. He continues as a Trustee. The Hudson-Webber Foundation, with assets of approximately one hundred eighty million dollars, is committed to improving the vitality and quality of life of the metropolitan Detroit community, the arts, crime reduction, economic development and the communities' urban revitalization needs.
On December 1, 1985, Mr. Hudson was elected the first President and Chief Executive Officer of the newly merged Detroit Medical Center and served until his retirement in 1990. The Detroit Medical Center consists of seven subsidiary hospitals affiliated with Wayne State University and its School of Medicine. Mr. Hudson had previously served on the Board and as Chairman of Harper Hospital.
Over the years in addition to Dayton Hudson Corporation, Mr. Hudson served as a Director of National Bank of Detroit, Detroit Edison, Michigan Bell Telephone Company, National Steel, Bundy Corporation, Masco Corporation, and McCormick Oil & Gas.
In 1967, following a major civil disturbance in Detroit, Mr. Hudson was asked to form the nation’s first urban coalition, New Detroit Inc. This organization served to focus private and public attention on numerous shortcomings in the community, and survives to this date.
In 1984 Mr. Hudson convened leaders of the community to create the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and served as its founding Chair until 2003. He continues as a Trustee.
Mr. Hudson's other civic and community involvement included service on the City of Detroit Arts Commission (Detroit Institute of Arts) where he served as President from 1979-1990; longtime Trustee and Trustee Emeritus Detroit Institute of Arts, Director of Detroit Renaissance (1990-2007). He chaired the annual campaign and later served as President of the United Foundation (United Way). Mr. Hudson also serves as a trustee and President of the Tannahill Foundation. Serving on the above boards allowed Mr. Hudson to continue the charitable leadership legacy of The J. L. Hudson Company and the Webber family.
In 2006, Mr. Hudson received the Governor’s Award for Arts and Culture. In 2005, Mr. Hudson received the Lifetime Service Award from the Detroit Institute of Arts. In 1996, Mr. Hudson received the Max M. Fisher Community Service Award from United Way Community Services. In 1992, Mr. Hudson was presented with the George W. Romney Award for Lifetime Achievement in Voluntarism. In 1988 Mr. Hudson received the Arts Foundation of Michigan Patron Award and the Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce Summit Award. Mr. Hudson received the 1983 Distinguished Network Service Award given by the National Urban Coalition and in 1982 received the Mercy National Human Relations Award given by the Greater Detroit Round Table of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In 1970 he was the recipient of the B'nai B'rith Humanitarian Award. Mr. Hudson was named winner of the 1960 Detroit Junior Board of Commerce "Distinguished Service Award" as Outstanding Young Man of the Year.
In 1983 he received Honorary Doctor of Humanities Degrees from the University of Detroit and Wayne State University. In 1978 Mr. Hudson received an Honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree from Michigan State University and in 1974, Wayne State University awarded Mr. Hudson the Builders of Detroit Award.
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