Julian Wheeler Curtiss

Julian Wheeler Curtiss (1858–1944), was president of the Spalding sports equipment company and a pioneering promoter of golf in the United States. Early life Curtiss was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, on August 29, 1858. Among his siblings was older brother, Edwin Burr Curtiss, a lawyer and later, bookseller. He attended Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven, Connecticut and the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He graduated from Yale University in 1879, where he had been active in various sports, crew especially. Career Curtiss joined the A.G. Spalding Company after college. In 1885 he became secretary of the company, and in 1920 president. He retired from the presidency in 1933, but remained on the board, serving as its chair until 1938.