Along with his two brothers, Jack and Joe, he founded the Premier Automotive Supply Company in 1940, which later became one of the world's leading industrial parts and electronic components distributors.
[4] Morton's father, Simon, had already immigrated from Nowy Sącz in Poland to the United States in 1913, planning to bring his family once he became established in Ohio.
Morton was born 15 months after his mother's immigration, in Cleveland, where his parents ran a dry goods shop.
[6] After his bar mitzvah, at age 13, he started working after school selling hot dogs, drinks, peanuts, and popcorn at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
[8] In February 1949, Mandel met Barbara (née Abrams)[9] whom he later married, and with whom he had three children, Amy, Thom, and Stacy.
In 1967, after the Six-Day War, Mandel and his wife first visited Israel, which along with his involvement in the Jewish community in Cleveland, became an important part of his life.
[10] In 2012, Mandel published his book It's All About Who You Hire, How They Lead ... and Other Essential Advice from a Self-Made Leader explaining his business and philanthropic philosophy.
On May 19, 2013, Mandel received his bachelor's degree from Case Western Reserve University, after completing the academic studies started during his first enrollment, in 1939.
Outraged by this act of racism, Mandel took the group away from the restaurant, where they would have been able to pay with meal vouchers, and bought them sandwiches from a street vendor.
Jack gathered his two brothers, Joe, who sold soap, and Morton, who worked in the shop after school, and opened their first business.
Later, they built a customer service department that operated 24-hours, including holidays and weekends, answering and handling clients' needs.
An example of this service is when a ride at Walt Disney World broke down on a Saturday and the company had the necessary part shipped within hours that same day.
In May 1960 the company changed its name to the Premier Industrial Corporation, and Mandel launched its initial public offering, with his brothers retaining 70% of the ownership.
[clarification needed] As Premier Industrial Corporation grew, Mandel met on a monthly basis with Peter Drucker, who consulted on various matters regarding the company.
[23] Premier Industrial Corporation earned numerous business awards, including being one of fifty top companies profiled in the 1995 book, Making It in America.
That same year, the Mandel Foundation made a naming gift for what was then the School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.
In 2013, the school's social work program which had ranked 9th in the country at the time,[29] was awarded an additional $8 million from the Mandel Foundation.
[35] In June 2013, the Temple-Tifereth Israel received a matching commitment of $16 million from Mandel Foundation for a major expansion and renovation of its Beachwood campus in Ohio.
The foundation awarded a $5.25 million gift to Brandeis University to fund a newly endowed faculty chair and to better the curriculum of the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education.
In 2014, the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City received a $10 million gift from the Morton and Barbara Mandel Family Foundation.