Henry Thomas Segerstrom (April 5, 1923 – February 20, 2015) was a widely recognized and esteemed American philanthropist, entrepreneur, cultural leader, and patron of the arts.

[5][6] The highest honor bestowed upon alumni of Stanford's Graduate School of Business, the award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to both managerial excellence and to addressing the changing needs of society.

Enlisting in the U.S. Army on June 24, 1942, Henry T. Segerstrom was commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduation from the Field Artillery Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma on May 27, 1944.

[8] Facing years of recuperation for shrapnel injuries to his hand, forearm, lower back, and forehead, he returned to California via Dibble General Hospital in Menlo Park.

Segerstrom & Sons hired a land-planning consultant to lobby state highway planners to reroute the southern section of the San Diego Freeway (the 405)through Segerstrom property, the future home of the retail site they planned to develop.This freeway would provide hundreds of thousands of Southern California residents easy access between Los Angeles and San Diego.

[11] The design that Henry undertook had a large range point of view and long term ambitions, resulting in a retail center that would subsequently become foremost in America.

[13] Under Segerstrom's advocacy, the buildings were leased to the family's first tenants; a cannery in Newport Harbor and a truck and transfer center in Anaheim.

Later, when the Carnegie Library in Santa Ana was relocated, Segerstrom encouraged his family to purchase the building and surrounding property.

Later, Henry T. Segerstrom began planning for a major retail development in an unincorporated stretch of land owned by his family located between Santa Ana and Costa Mesa.

[11] In 2005, a gift agreement was made for the development of the pedestrian plaza common areas located with Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

A portion of the Circle of Honor Gift in the amount of $4 million was restricted for the sole purpose of funding construction costs for the pedestrian plaza and walkway areas of Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

[24] Over his lifetime, Segerstrom would personally donate more than $100,000 to the company toward the advancement of their global presence and for the establishment of the American Ballet Theatre's William J. Gillespie School.

[28][29] The highly visible 65-feet-high sculpture was installed in 2006, serving the symbolic function of unifying centerpiece for the newly expanded grounds of the center.

Other artists who created renowned works in Orange County under Segerstrom's sponsorship include: Marion Sampler, a pioneering black designer whose stained glass rotundum dome for South Coast Plaza--the Jewel Court Dome--was an engineering feat at 29 feet in diameter; The Ram by Charles O. Perry; window screens by Claire Falkenstein[31]; Utsurohi 91 by Aiko Miyawaki; and the majestic Firebird by Richard Lippold built into the face of The Performing Arts Center.

The show was part of the series of events across Southern California from October 2011 to April 2012 called Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A.

[34] Rychlak subsequently authored the publication, Henry T. Segerstrom: The courage of imagination and the development of the arts in Southern California, an expansive testimony to the philanthropist's legacy.

Mounted in a specially designed gallery in Jewel Court at South Coast Plaza, the exhibition chronicled Segerstorm's life story through dozens of vintage photographs, archival videos, informative descriptions and a selection of major sculptures by Alexander Calder, Jean Dubuffet and Joan Miró.

[38][11] Segerstrom is widely recognized for his service as founding chairman of the Orange County Performing Arts Center and his vital role in establishing the Centre for Social Innovation at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

[11] Thanks to Henry Segerstrom's financial and visionary contributions, Orange County is now recognized for its sophisticated arts community, its civic and cultural innovation, its inventive entrepreneurial spirit and cutting edge advances in business and technology.

Among numerous other noteworthy accolades, he was awarded in 1988 the Honorary title of Commander and bestowed with the Order of the Polar Star by the King of Sweden.

In 1995, he was presented the prestigious Tree of Life Award of the Jewish National Fund by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for his efforts in developing desalination plants in Southern California.[42].