View source for Mathias J. DeVito

{{Short description|American lawyer and businessman (1930–2019)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Mathias J. DeVito
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1930|8|23}}
| birth_place        = [[Trenton, New Jersey]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2019|7|24|1930|8|23}}
| death_place        = [[Ruxton, Maryland]], U.S.
| alma_mater         = [[University of Maryland, College Park]] (B.A.)<br>[[University of Maryland School of Law]] (J.D.)
| occupation         = Businessperson, lawyer
| employer           = [[Piper and Marbury]]<br>[[The Rouse Company]]
| children           = 2
}}
'''Mathias J. DeVito''' (August 23, 1930 – July 24, 2019) was an American businessperson and lawyer. He served as the president and chief executive officer of [[The Rouse Company]]. DeVito was previously a Maryland assistant attorney general and partner at [[Piper and Marbury]] law firm.
== Early life and education ==
DeVito was born on August 23, 1930, in [[Trenton, New Jersey]], to Margaret and Charles DeVito.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LMwRAAAAMAAJ|title=Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory|date=1961|publisher=Martindale-Hubbell, Incorporated|pages=2390|language=en}}</ref> His father was a [[paperhanger]]. DeVito graduated from [[Trenton Central High School]] in 1948. He attended [[Rider College]] and completed a B.A. in English at [[University of Maryland, College Park]] in 1954.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /> He earned a [[Juris Doctor]] degree with honors from [[University of Maryland School of Law]] in 1956.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/obituaries/bs-md-ob-mathias-devito-20190729-rrm5virrirgm5ew3rjntus2r6a-story.html|title=Mathias J. DeVito, former Rouse Co. leader, dies|last=Kelly|first=Jacques|date=2019-07-29|website=Baltimore Sun|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref> DeVito was an editor of the ''Maryland Law Review'' and a member of the [[Order of the Coif]]. He became a member of the [[Maryland State Bar Association]] in 1956.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/34408758/the_baltimore_sun/|title=DeVito is appointed as aide to Finan|date=1963-06-27|website=The Baltimore Sun|language=en|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref>
== Career ==
After law school, DeVito was a clerk for Judge [[Morris Ames Soper]]. In 1957, he was joined the [[Piper and Marbury]] law firm where he became partner.<ref name=":0" /> On June 26, 1963, the attorney general Thomas B. Finan appointed DeVito as an assistant attorney general, stating that DeVito would serve as counsel for the {{Interlanguage link|Maryland Insurance Administration|lt=|||WD=Q66023260}} and the [[Maryland State Department of Education]].<ref name=":1" />
=== The Rouse Company ===
DeVito was part of the Piper legal team assisting [[The Rouse Company]] to purchase farmland that would later become [[Columbia, Maryland]].<ref name=":0" /> In 1968, DeVito joined [[The Rouse Company]] as general counsel.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/34408715/the_evening_sun/|title=DeVito new chief of Rouse|date=1979-05-24|website=The Evening Sun|language=en|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref> He became executive vice president and chief operating officer in January 1970.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/34421262/the_heraldnews/|title=Officer shifts at mall|date=1970-10-01|website=The Herald-News|location=Passaic, New Jersey|language=en|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref> As the executive vice president, DeVito oversaw the operations of the Rouse Company.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/34421162/the_morning_call/|title='Berg Cities Symposium to Offer Proxmire Talk|date=1973-02-18|website=The Morning Call|location=Allentown, Pennsylvania|language=en|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref> He became president of Rouse Company in 1973.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1263&context=jd|title=Honored: DeVito & Berndt|date=1996-04-17|website=University of Maryland School of Law}}</ref> From 1972 to 1975, DeVito decreased the Rouse Company’s number of employees from 1,700 to 500.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/34408637/the_baltimore_sun/|title=Quadrupled Rouse Company cuts back|last=Kennedy|first=Davis L.|date=1975-02-09|website=Baltimore Sun|language=en|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref> From 1975 to 1976, DeVito assisted with restructuring the Company.<ref name=":0" /> In 1979, he succeeded the founder, [[James Rouse]] as chief executive officer.<ref name=":2" /> During his time as the CEO, DeVito changed the Rouse Company from being an "entrepreneurial developer" to one of the largest U.S. commercial property owners. DeVito worked behind the scenes while James Rouse was the face of projects including the [[Harborplace]] and [[Faneuil Hall]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/34408673/the_baltimore_sun/|title=Rouse Co. chief DeVito to leave post in February|last=McQuaid|first=Kevin L.|date=1994-12-01|website=Baltimore Sun|language=en|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref> In 1984, DeVito became chairman of the Rouse Company. His calming style of management was noted by others in the Company. In 1987, DeVito halted the development of new projects.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/34408584/the_baltimore_sun/|title=DeVito a steadying hand|last=Mullaney|first=Timothy J.|date=1994-12-01|website=Baltimore Sun|language=en|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref> In December 1994, DeVito announced he would step down as CEO in February 1995.<ref name=":3" /> The Rouse Company's earnings increased under his leadership from $10.6 million in 1978 to $82.5 million in 1994. The company developed 77 shopping centers over the course of twenty years including [[Quincy Market]], [[The Gallery at Market East]], [[The Outlet Collection at Riverwalk]], [[The Shops at National Place]], [[South Street Seaport]], and [[Union Station (St. Louis)|Union Station]] in [[St. Louis]]. After DeVito retired from the Rouse Company in 1995, Baltimore Mayor, [[Kurt Schmoke]], requested his assistance with an urban revitalization project spurred by a $100 million federal [[empowerment zone]] grant from the [[Clinton Administration]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/34421452/courierpost/|title=Builder of suburbs asked to revive Baltimore|last=Hendren|first=John|date=1995-04-09|website=Courier-Post|language=en|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref>
=== Community involvement ===
From 1970 to 1972, DeVito was the chairman of the board of Trustees of the [[University System of Maryland|Maryland State College Board of Trustees]].<ref name=":2" /> In late 1972, Governor [[Marvin Mandel]] announced that DeVito would lead a commission to study the structure of education in Maryland from kindergarten to college.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/34408562/the_baltimore_sun/|title=DeVito picked to study school set-up in state|last=Bowler|first=Mike|date=1972-12-08|website=Baltimore Sun|language=en|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref> In 1973, he was a member of the board of directors of [[Howard Research and Development]], Development Corp., and Rouse-Wates, Inc.<ref name=":5" /> He was a trustee of [[Johns Hopkins University]], [[Allied Irish Banks]], and [[US Airways]]. At [[Maryland Institute College of Art]], DeVito endowed a scholarship. He was a member of the [[Greater Baltimore Committee]] (board chair from 1990 to 1992)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gbc.org/former-board-chair-1990-92-mathias-j-devito-passes-away/|title=Former Board Chair (1990-92) Mathias J. DeVito Passes Away|date=2019-07-31|website=Greater Baltimore Committee|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-01}}</ref> where he co-chaired the initiative to bring a [[National Football League]] franchise to [[Baltimore]].<ref name=":0" /> He was a board chairman of Empower Baltimore Management Corporation, and served on the boards of the Business Committee for the Arts, [[The Enterprise Foundation]], [[Baltimore Symphony Orchestra]], and [[Walters Art Museum]]. He was on the board of [[Roanoke College]].<ref name=":4" />
== Personal life ==
DeVito was a resident of [[Ruxton, Maryland]]. He spent summers hiking at the [[Adirondack Mountains]]. He was a reader. DeVito was married to Rosetta Kormuth, a former legal assistant. They had a son and daughter. He died on July 24, 2019, of kidney failure at the [[Greater Baltimore Medical Center]]. He was survived by his wife, children, and four grandchildren.<ref name=":0" />
== Honors ==
In April 1987, the [[Small Business Administration]] recognized DeVito as Maryland's Minority Advocate of the Year. In 1989, DeVito was named "CEO of the Decade" in the real estate industry by ''[[Financial World]]''. In March 1995, ''Financial World'' selected him as CEO of the year. [[The Wall Street Transcript]] named DeVito the top CEO in the real estate industry in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1988.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mica.edu/mica-dna/leadership/board-of-trustees/mathias-j-devito-emeritus/|title=Mathias J. DeVito (Emeritus)|website=MICA|language=en|access-date=2019-07-31}}</ref> On April 17, 1996, DeVito received a distinguished graduate award from University of Maryland School of Law.<ref name=":4" />
== References ==
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[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2019 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni]]
[[Category:University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Trenton, New Jersey]]
[[Category:American chief executives]]
[[Category:American chief operating officers]]
[[Category:American people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Maryland]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure in the United States]]
[[Category:Maryland lawyers]]
[[Category:Trenton Central High School alumni]]
[[Category:Chief executive officers in the real estate industry]]