Leo Kahn
International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Experience
Leo Kahn graduated from Harvard College in 1938. He received his M.S. from Columbia University's School of Journalism a year later in 1939. He served as captain navigator in the Air Corps during World War II. He then joined his father in a grocery store business and built a major operation, including the Purity supermarket chain (which merged with Supreme to become Purity Supreme), warehouse food stores, pharmacies, and convenience stores. In 1987, Leo Kahn began a new venture and became co-founder of Staples Office Supplies. An enthusiastic Harvard supporter, Kahn is a member of the Committee on University Resources and the Friends of Harvard Basketball. He has frequently participated in Harvard College Fund activities. Leo Kahn is a Board Member of the Kennedy School of Government’s Institute for Social and Economic Policy in the Middle East. Previously, Mr. Kahn established in the Morris Kahn Associate Professorship at Harvard in memory of his father, and in 1997, he established the Kirkpatrick Professorship.
