Jeffrey Lurie - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Jeffrey Lurie was born into wealth in Boston; His grandfather Philip Smith founded the movie theatre chain General Cinema. His father Morris John Lurie married Nancy Smith, the daughter of entrepreneur Philip Smith. Morris and Nancy Lurie had three children: Jeffrey, Peter, and Cathy. Morris John Lurie died on April 14, 1961 at the age of 44. In July his grandfather Philip Smith died. 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, Mass., with 23,700 employees worldwide. In it's 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 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 Ph.D in social policy from Brandeis Universitywhere 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.