(Aug. 2, 1915-Dec. 30, 2009). Ruth Lilly was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to and Ruth Brinkmeyer Lilly. Her father was the grandson of who founded in 1876.
Lilly was a graduate of Tudor Hall School in 1933 and attended the . For much of her life, she suffered from depression and lived in seclusion. Despite being married for 40 years to Guernsey Van Riper Jr., an editor and author of sports biographies for children, Lilly did not have children. Lilly’s life improved after 1988 with the introduction of the Eli Lilly-developed antidepressant Prozac. She traveled with friends and family, and her philanthropy and interests widened.
During her life, Lilly continued her family’s philanthropic legacy through sizable gifts to many institutions and charities in and around Indianapolis, including colleges and universities and other educational institutions. She gave to Anderson University, Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, Butler University, Cathedral High School, DePauw University, Franklin College, Hanover College, Indiana University, Lutheran High School, Marian University, Orchard School, Park Tudor School, University of Indianapolis, and Wabash College.
In 1966, Lilly and her only brother Josiah K. Lilly III donated their parents’ estate Oldfields to the to be used as a site for a new art museum. The opened in October 1970. It was renamed Newfields in 2017.
Lilly also gave to an enormous number of other local cultural, healthcare, and arts institutions. Recipients of these gifts are too many to list in total, but they include Methodist Hospital, Riley Hospital for Children, St. Vincent Hospital, , Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana, Brain Injury Association of Indiana, Project I-Star, Little Red Door, Prevent Blindness, crossroads rehabilitation center, the Indianapolis Art Center, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Ballet, the Indianapolis Opera, the Cabaret, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Arts for the Ear, Young Audiences, WFYI Public Broadcasting, Conner Prairie, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, and the Indianapolis zoo.
In 2002, Lilly made three major gifts. She gave $150 million to , which had been founded by her father, her grandfather , and her uncle in 1937; $120 million to Americans for the Arts, an arts advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C.; and a third to the Modern Poetry Association, which was established in 1941 to publish magazine. The magazine itself began publication in 1912.
Throughout her life, Lilly was fond of reading and writing poetry, something that would shape the course of much of her work in philanthropy. When she made a $100 million gift to the Modern Poetry Association in 2002, Lilly already had established the (1986) and the Ruth Lilly Fellowship (1990) through the auspices of the association. The gift was primarily in Lilly stock, and, therefore, ended up being worth about $200 million.
In 2003, shortly after receipt of the donation, the Modern Poetry Association became the Poetry Foundation. Up to this point, most of Lilly’s philanthropy, following a pattern similar to most family members, had been focused on Indianapolis and Indiana institutions. Her gift to the Poetry Association made her much more well-known nationally, though many criticized giving such a large amount of money to what had become categorized inappropriately as a marginal art form.
The organization has used the money to develop an award-winning website, to increase the number of fellowships, programs, and awards that bring attention to poets and poetry, to triple the circulation of its magazine, to establish a high school poetry recitation contest in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, and to sponsor poetry segments on The PBS NewsHour and Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac.
At the 2004 commencement exercises, Lilly received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree honoring her prolific philanthropy.
Lilly’s giving was so broad and deep that the National Easter Seal Society named her the U.S. Philanthropist of the year in 1998. She gave an estimated total of $800 million in philanthropy throughout her lifetime. At the time of her death, her estate was valued at $1 billion. Her legacy continues through gifts from the Ruth Lilly Philanthropic Foundation and by the presence of numerous institutions named in her honor.
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