Herbert Allison Jr., a financial executive who served on the board of directors of the nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica, died July 14 at his home in Westport, Conn. He was 69. Family members said he may have died of a heart attack.
Allison, a former executive of Merrill Lynch and TIAA-CREF, among other institutions, also held key roles in the presidential administrations of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He ran the Troubled Asset Relief Management (TARP) program from 2009 to 2010.
He began his donor relationship with ProPublica in 2012. In December, Allison was unanimously elected to the ProPublica board of directors.
“He’s knowledgeable about philanthropy, he’s knowledgeable about management, so he was just a great asset on the board,” ProPublica Executive Director Paul Steiger told Current. “It’s just a deep wound that he won’t be there, because we saw the potential.”
He is survived by his wife Simin and sons John and Andrew. A memorial service will be planned for September.