Peter Ascoli, a grandson of philanthropist and Sears, Roebuck and Co. President Julius Rosenwald, worked as an academic and historian before focusing on professional fundraising and philanthropy, including for the University of Illinois Chicago, the University of Chicago, the Chicago Opera Theater and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
Ascoli, who taught Jewish studies at Chicago’s Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, also wrote a detailed biography of his grandfather, “Julius Rosenwald: The Man Who Built Sears, Roebuck and Advanced the Cause of Black Education in the American South,” which Indiana University Press published in 2006.
“Peter was a very interesting product of both his heritage and his times, so when you think of that really notable extraordinary philanthropy of his grandfather, you can sort of imagine that equity and social justice were the food for thought at his childhood dinner table — you can picture that this was the conversation of this family,” said Ellen Benjamin, a friend and former DePaul University professor who taught with Ascoli at the Spertus Institute.
“But Peter was also a product of his times, and his commitment to equity and justice was informed by the period in which he and I and others sort of grew up, so he was a modern version in many ways of his grandfather,” Benjamin said. “And he was as serious a scholar as he was an activist. He took both of those roles to heart, and with earnestness, and he brought real energy and thoughtfulness to what he could contribute in the world.”
Ascoli, 84, died Aug. 9 of a stroke he suffered in his apartment at a retirement community in Brookline, Massachusetts, said his daughter, Elizabeth. A longtime resident of Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood, Ascoli moved to Brookline last year to live near his daughter.
Born in 1942 in New York City, Peter Max Ascoli grew up in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park area and graduated from Collegiate High School. He was the son of Rosenwald’s daughter, Marion, and Max Ascoli, an Italian opponent of fascism and a onetime professor and dean at the New School for Social Research who in 1949 founded The Reporter, a liberal magazine devoted to national and international affairs, which later merged with Harper’s magazine.
Ascoli earned a bachelor’s degree in 1964 from the University of Chicago. He also earned a second bachelor’s degree from St. Catherine’s College at Oxford University.
After completing his Ph.D. in European history from the University of California at Berkeley in 1971, Ascoli taught history at Utah State University until 1978, when he returned to Chicago to pursue further graduate studies and work in philanthropy. Ascoli earned a master’s degree in management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 1987.
Ascoli worked as a fundraiser for various Chicago institutions, starting with the University of Chicago, where he was associate director of foundation relations. From 1981 until 1986, he was development director at Chicago Opera Theater. He joined Steppenwolf Theatre in 1986 as its director of development and later worked in UIC’s development department. In 1992, Ascoli was named executive director of the nonprofit Summer Intern Program of Chicago, which helped college-bound students enter the business world.
Ascoli also taught nonprofit management classes part time at the Spertus Institute from 1995 until 2015.
In 1963, Ascoli founded the Lohengrin Foundation as a way to donate money without his name being obviously associated with it. Ascoli’s wife later joined him in steering the foundation.
“What always struck me about Peter was his curiosity and his commitment to learning. He believed that real philanthropy meant walking alongside people — not just writing checks, but asking questions, staying curious, valuing diversity, fighting for fairness and using whatever access he had to open doors for others, quietly and without fanfare,” said Lohengrin Foundation CEO Mark Rodriguez. “He always reminded us that our impact should not solely be measured by the dollars we’ve contributed to various causes, but by the lives changed, leaders developed and barriers to access and opportunity removed.”
In 2006, Ascoli wrote the biography of his grandfather. Reviewing the book for the Tribune, Alex Lichtenstein wrote
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that Rosenwald, who also founded Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, was “a neglected and modest figure deserving of recognition not only for his foresight in business but also for his philanthropy.”Lichtenstein wrote that “familial bias aside,” Ascoli’s biography was “scholarly and accessible” and added that the author’s “scrupulous research and willingness to engage with less-complimentary accounts of Rosenwald’s life result in an even-handed portrait that proves convincing.”
After retiring, Ascoli enjoyed speaking about his book and about Rosenwald, his daughter said. Ascoli was an avid reader. He also enjoyed traveling, going to the opera, symphony and theater, and participating in a book club that he and his wife had started. Ascoli “always enjoyed a hearty political discussion,” his daughter said.
“He was a man for all seasons,” said Susan Himmelfarb, a longtime friend and book club member. “He was passionate about learning, he was passionate about arts, he was passionate about politics, he was passionate about social justice and all those things certainly wove into his professional life but wove into his personal life very strongly. He was wonderful to talk with about anything.”
Benjamin said that though Ascoli was modest, he “wasn’t shy about sharing his convictions or his commitments.” She noted that he helped start the Crossroads Fund, a longtime philanthropic group that supports area social and economic justice organizations.
“He was very generous, and he was very impactful on organizations but also on people,” Benjamin said. “Peter’s capacity to be comfortable with grassroots organizations as well as with the Obama White House was really quite extraordinary. He was respectful of each of the institutions and individuals he worked with, and he took joy out of knowing them and learning and working together with people.”
Ascoli’s wife, Lucy, died in January 2025. Ascoli also is survived by a son-in-law, Brett Erickson; and two grandsons.
A memorial service is being planned.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.