Jerry Greenfield
American businessman, philanthropist, and activist (born 1951)
Jerry Greenfield (born March 14, 1951) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and activist. He is a co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc.2
From Wikipedia’s article on Jerry Greenfield (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Mar 14, 1951.1
About
Greenfield grew up on Long Island. He attended Oberlin College, where he was a National Merit Scholar and followed a pre-med curriculum before graduating in 1973. He applied unsuccessfully for medical school before deciding to go into business with Ben Cohen, a childhood friend.
After taking a course in ice-cream making from Penn State, Greenfield and Cohen opened their first ice cream store in downtown Burlington, Vermont. The company was sold to British-Dutch corporation Unilever in 2000. As of 2021 it had 573 stores and as of 2025 annual revenues of $1.28 billion.
From Wikipedia’s article on Jerry Greenfield, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2
Companies
- Ben & Jerry'sFounder10
Early life and education
Jerry Greenfield grew up on Long Island, in a family of Jewish roots. He attended Merrick Avenue Junior High School, where he met Ben Cohen in 1963. Greenfield and Cohen both attended Calhoun High School and remained friends until they both graduated and left Long Island to attend college.
Greenfield chose to pursue a pre-med curriculum at Oberlin College, where he began working as an ice cream scooper in the school's cafeteria.
After graduating in 1973, Greenfield failed to get into medical school. At this point, Greenfield decided to move back to New York where he shared an apartment with Cohen and worked as a lab technician. In 1974, Greenfield was again rejected from medical school and decided to move to North Carolina with his future wife, Elizabeth Skarie, and continued to work as a lab technician.
Greenfield lived with Cohen in Saratoga Springs, New York during the summer of 1977. After initially considering opening a bagel shop, they chose to open an ice cream store. They took a five-dollar correspondence course in ice-cream making and opened their first store in a former gas station in Burlington, Vermont. Ben & Jerry's opened in the summer of 1978.
During the 1980s, Greenfield left the business to support Elizabeth in Arizona as she pursued a Ph.D. in psychology. The couple returned to Vermont in 1985, when Greenfield assumed the position of Director of Mobile Promotions.
From Wikipedia’s article on Jerry Greenfield (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: entrepreneur.5
- Date not recordedFounded Ben & Jerry's4
Personal life
In 1987, Greenfield married Elizabeth Skarie and in 1988, they had a son, Tyrone. He resides in Williston, Vermont, a small town just outside Burlington.
From Wikipedia’s article on Jerry Greenfield (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Politics
On April 18, 2016, Greenfield and Cohen were arrested at a Democracy Awakening protest in Washington, D.C.
From Wikipedia’s article on Jerry Greenfield (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataJerry Greenfield on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaJerry Greenfield on Wikipedia
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10WikidataBen & Jerry's, Founder
- 11Wikimedia CommonsJerry Greenfield photo by Dismas, CC BY-SA 3.0