Lawrence Flinn Jr

Lawrence Flinn Jr. graduated with a B.A. from Yale University in 1957 and an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1960. He worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and then joined the Bogdan Company. Flinn bought Vestal Video, a small operation, and moved to the Binghamton area to manage the business, which was later renamed United Video Cablevision, Inc. In 1975, Flinn purchased United Video, Inc. (UVI), which used towers and microwave technology to transmit television signals from WGN-TV Chicago and other big-city stations to markets including Dallas and Houston, and to smaller underserved cable television markets in the central United States. UVI changed its name to United Video Satellite Group (UVSG). UVSG was behind the Prevue Channel, now called the TV Guide Channel. Flinn retired in 1998. Lawrence Flinn Jr. and his wife Stephanie conduct their philanthropy through the Stephanie and Lawrence Flinn Jr. Charitable Trust, which made a little under $980,000 in grants in a recent year. The couple's three children may play a larger role in grantmaking down the line.