American lawyer and venture capitalist who was active in New York City civic affairs and played an important role in the initiation of the War on Cancer. Schmidt is credited with coining the term “venture capital” to describe the area of providing early or “seed” capital to aspiring entrepreneurs. The term was a shortening of the word “adventure”.
Schmidt was educated at the University of Texas, where he received both his A.B. and law degrees in 1936. After receiving his law degree, he spent time as a member of the Texas law school faculty and at Harvard Law School as a Thayer Teaching Fellow. In 1942, following the United States’ entrance into World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. During his military service he rose to the rank of Colonel and was awarded several medals, including the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star Medal.
In late 1945, Jock Whitney invited him to join a new business he wanted to start to finance new companies seeking to capitalize on newly identified markets and social needs. In 1946 he became a partner in the business that Whitney had proposed, venture capital firm J.H. Whitney & Company. He became managing partner in 1960 and remained in that position until 1992.
In 1971 U.S. President Richard M. Nixon appointed him to the chairmanship of the President’s Cancer Panel, which initiated the U.S. federal government’s War on Cancer.
Schmidt had five sons, including Benno C. Schmidt Jr., who was President of Yale University and Dean of Columbia Law School. He died from heart failure on 21 October 1999 at the age of 86.
Link to Wikipedia biography