The legacy of the Figgie family at Case Western Reserve University began with a “tough as nails” third baseman on the Case School of Applied Science baseball team. Harry Figgie (CSAS 1909) started for four years at third base, and was critical in his team’s victory against the Ohio State University Buckeyes in May of 1907. He was named to the Case Western Reserve Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.
In 1963, Harry E. Figgie Jr. (CIT ’47, GRS ’53, industrial engineering) bought Automatic Sprinkler Corp. of America to organize Figgie International, Inc., a diversified operating company that saw booming sales in the late 1960s.
Harry Jr.’s son, Harry E. Figgie III (MED ’79), worked for the company and resigned in 1994. From 1985 to 1993, he was an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in joint replacement at University Hospitals. The Harry E Figgie III M.D., Professorship in Orthopaedics at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine honors his legacy.
Matthew Figgie (MGT ’99), another son of Harry E. Figgie Jr., founded the investment company Figgie Capital and chaired the Fairmount Center for the Arts in Novelty, Ohio, as well as the Figgie Foundation.
