Maurice Stans and the History of the Stans Foundation

Maurice H. Stans, a Shakopee philanthropist, enjoyed a successful career in both the public and private sector. Born in Shakopee, Minnesota in 1908, he received his primary education at St. Mark’s School and graduated from Shakopee High School in 1925 with highest honors. He studied accounting at Northwestern University, in Chicago, and at Columbia in New York.

Stans spent more than twenty-five years in public accounting for Alexander Grant and Co., from 1928 to 1955. Throughout his accounting career, Stans actively supported the creation of nationwide accounting standards, speaking widely on the issue.

Maurice Stans served during Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential administration as Deputy Postmaster General, Deputy Director, and Director of the Bureau of the Budget. After returning to the private sector as a business consultant through much of the 1960s, Maurice Stans was named by Richard Nixon to be Secretary of Commerce (January 21, 1969 – February 15, 1972), the first accountant to achieve a cabinet position.

In 1969, the Office of Minority Business Enterprise was created by Executive Order. As Secretary of Commerce, Stans oversaw the development and implementation of this program. Other achievements and legislation while serving as Secretary of Commerce include the creation of the Office of Telecommunications, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Technical Information Service. Perhaps the most significant of these achievements was the Office of Minority Business Enterprise. The purpose of this Federal program was to increase the number of minority owned businesses in the United States. During the three years Stans served as Secretary of Commerce, there was a nineteen percent increase in minority owned businesses.

Stans resigned his post as Secretary of Commerce in 1972 to serve as Chairman of the Finance Committee for President Nixon’s re-election campaign. The campaign had two committees; the fund-raising committee, responsible for soliciting donations, and the campaign committee, responsible for strategy and determining when, where, and how to expend the money raised by the fundraising committee. Maurice Stans was entangled in the Watergate scandal while serving as Finance Chairman for President Nixon’s re-election campaign.

For Stans, the Watergate investigations turned up some minor fundraising offences, and he ultimately plead guilty to five misdemeanor counts, two for non-willful receipt of corporate funds, and three counts for reporting violations. After more than a year of federal harassment, hearings and trials, Stans was cleared of having any knowledge whatsoever of Watergate and fined only for unintentional violations, but his good name was not easily restored. Ultimately, however, he won total vindication in a 1992 article in the Washington Post.

After his political career, Maurice Stans turned his attention and philanthropic vision to his boyhood home in Shakopee where he had a prominent role in the community. Maurice Stans’ successful career in the private sector led to the establishment of the Stans Foundation; a private foundation established in 1935 by Maurice and his wife Kathleen.

The Stans Foundation, with Maurice serving as President, created the Opportunity Grant in 1965 by providing a guaranty on student loans from a local bank. The Opportunity Grant offered assistance to Shakopee high school graduates seeking post high school study. The Stans Foundation also purchased the J. Hubert Stans house, Maurice Stans’ childhood home, in 1988 and restored the exterior and interior of the house.

In 1995, the house was part of a $1 million donation to the Scott County Historical Society which included the Stans House and the Stans Museum, which the organization has called home for over 25 years. The Stans Foundation also made significant contributions to aid the community, including contributing over $1 million to Murphy’s Landing, establishing two annual Dollars for Scholars scholarships, ten Stans Awards at St. Mark’s Catholic School, landscaping and equipment at Stans Park, and donations to St. Frances Regional Medical Center and the Shakopee baseball stadium.

Maurice Stans died April 14, 1998 and is buried at the Shakopee Catholic Cemetery.