Obituary: B. Franklin Kahn, Philanthropist

B. Franklin Kahn, 82, a real-estate developer who established the Creativity Foundation, in Chevy Chase, Md., to recognize and celebrate thinkers and innovators in the tradition of his hero, Ben Franklin, died March 8 of congestive heart and kidney failure, The Washington Post reports.

Mr. Kahn started the foundation after he retired in 2002. The organization has honored Sandra Day O’Connor, Jules Feiffer, Eric Kandel, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Yo-Yo Ma, among others.

Each year’s winner also interacts with young people who show promise in the arts and sciences, and in public service and entrepreneurship.

Mr. Kahn was known as the first developer in the country to establish a real-estate investment trust. In the late 1950s he worked with then-Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson to pass legislation enabling the creation of publicly held real estate investment trusts, known as REITs.

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