Jean R. Yawkey

In 2003, the Yawkey Foundation awarded $5 million to Emmanuel College in Boston for construction of the Jean Yawkey Center, a student center, dining hall, gym and fitness center.

In 1992, Jean Yawkey died in Boston at age 83. In total, the Yawkeys owned (solely, or with partners) and operated the team for 59 years. Jean Yawkey was inducted to the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995.

The team's most successful season during Jean Yawkey's ownership came in 1986, when the Red Sox reached the World Series, losing in seven games to the New York Mets.

In 1983, Jean Yawkey became a director of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, holding the distinction of being the first woman elected to the board.

Jean Yawkey was born Jean Hollander in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Freeport, Long Island, and was a New York City fashion model for ten years. In December 1944, she married Tom Yawkey in Georgetown, South Carolina; both had previous marriages that ended in divorce. During World War II, she was active with the Red Cross.

Tom Yawkey had bought the Boston Red Sox in 1933. Following his death in 1976, Jean Yawkey was chairwoman of the board of directors of the JRY Corporation, the majority owner and general partner of the Red Sox, until her death.

Jean Remington Yawkey (January 24, 1909 – February 26, 1992) was the wife of Tom Yawkey and owner of the Boston Red Sox from 1976 to her death in 1992.