Jerry Greenfield
With a $5 correspondence course in ice cream, he and a friend built a Vermont scoop shop into a global brand synonymous with social justice and Chunky Monkey.
Born 1951 (age 75)·American businessman, philanthropist, and activist·Birthday: March 14·Baby Boomers
Biography
Jerry Greenfield is the affable, bearded half of one of America's most beloved and ideologically committed food stories. In 1977, with childhood friend Ben Cohen, he took a $5 Penn State correspondence course in ice cream-making and opened a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont. Ben & Jerry's was born from a simple desire for a livelihood, but it grew into a corporate anomaly. Greenfield, the 'product guy' focused on creating rich, chunky flavors, helped steer the company with a three-part mission: making fantastic ice cream, running a profitable business, and using that success to advocate for progressive causes. This meant sourcing fair-trade ingredients, championing environmental sustainability, and speaking out on issues from marriage equality to climate change. Even after the company's sale to Unilever, Greenfield remains its charismatic conscience, embodying the idea that business can be a force for quirky joy and concrete social change.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Jerry was born in 1951, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Jerry Was Born
The biggest hits of 1951
#1 Movie
Quo Vadis
Best Picture
An American in Paris
#1 TV Show
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts
Jerry's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1951Born
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1956Started school
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1964Became a teenager
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1967Could drive
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1969Could vote
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1972Turned 21
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1981Turned 30
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1991Turned 40
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
2001Turned 50
September 11 attacks transform the world
Gas: $1.46/galHome: $126,400Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Hanging by a Moment" — LifehouseBest Picture: A Beautiful Mind
2011Turned 60
Osama bin Laden killed; Arab Spring sweeps the Middle East
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $138,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Rolling in the Deep" — AdeleBest Picture: The Artist
2021Turned 70
January 6 Capitol breach; COVID vaccines roll out globally
Gas: $3.01/galHome: $298,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Levitating" — Dua LipaBest Picture: CODA
2026Age 75 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Co-founded Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc. from a renovated gas station in Burlington, Vermont in 1978.
- Pioneered the concept of a 'linked prosperity' business model, dedicating a percentage of pre-tax profits to philanthropic and activist causes.
- Helped establish the Ben & Jerry's Foundation, which grants over $2 million annually to community-oriented projects.
Did You Know?
He and Ben Cohen were famously bad students in science; they chose ice cream because it required minimal chemistry.
He once worked as a lab assistant in New York, making $4 an hour, before moving to Vermont.
He is a certified EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) in Vermont.
His official title at Ben & Jerry's is 'Co-founder & Head Ice Cream Guerilla.'
“Business has a responsibility to give back to the community from which it draws its success.”
