About George T. Delacorte
George T. Delacorte, Columbia College class of 1913, was the founder of Dell Publishing, a major magazine publisher of the 1920s and 30s, with best-selling magazines like I Confess and Ballyhoo (which came wrapped in cellophane). In the 1940s, Dell became a key driver of the paperback revolution in book publishing. The company published Kurt Vonnegut, Danielle Steel, and Robert B. Parker, among others.
Later on, George T. Delacorte became one of New York's most beloved and inventive philanthropists and one of Columbia's most devoted alumni. He generously enabled the University to create the Delacorte Professorship in the Humanities and to enhance the campus physically. In 1984, he founded the George T. Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism and created the Delacorte Professorship in Magazine Journalism. Columbia recognized his devotion to the University by awarding him an honorary doctorate in 1982.