The security industry lost one of its pioneers and most high-profile activists with the passing of Ira Lipman in New York City on Monday, September 16 at the age of 78.
A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Lipman founded Guardsmark in 1963 with the goal of improving the quality of private security guard services. By the time he sold the company to Universal Protection Services (a predecessor of Allied Universal) in 2015, Guardsmark generated annual revenue of over $500 million and employed 17,000 security officers in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Lipman served as an observer to the Allied Universal board of managers since the company’s acquisition of Lipman’s firm.
A pioneer in the security industry, Lipman authored several influential books on security and served in leadership positions on a number of industry associations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. He was also active in several philanthropic causes.
As a teenager growing up in Little Rock, Lipman was a source for NBC reporter John Chancellor while he was covering the unrest surrounding integration there in the 1960s. That encounter, as well as his encounters with renowned journalist David Halberstam fueled Lipman’s love of the free press which he supported throughout his life. In 1995, he established the John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism at Columbia University.
Lipman was also a lifelong activist in service to human rights, including terms as chairman of the National Conference of Christian and Jews and the United Way of America’s ethics committee. He was also on the Council on Foreign Relations and a board member of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and New-York Historical Society.
“Ira Lipman was a widely-respected leader of our industry for over 50 years,” said Steve Jones, CEO of Allied Universal. “His unwavering commitment to quality and professionalism has had a wide-spread impact on the security industry. I am appreciative of his advice and guidance during his association with Allied Universal. We extend our sincerest sympathies to the entire Lipman family and to all Ira’s friends and colleagues.”
The Ira A. Lipman Chair in Emerging Technologies and National Security at the Council on Foreign Relations was established with a gift from Mr. Lipman in 2016. It supports studies of the impact of cyber and other emerging technologies on U.S. national security.
The University of Memphis Barbara K. Lipman Early Learning and Research Center is named for Mr. Lipman’s wife, Barbara K. Lipman, who survives him.
He also leaves sons Gustave, Joshua and Benjamin Lipman.
