John Alden Scott (March 11, 1916 – October 1, 1986) was a president of theGannett Foundation from 1976 to 1981. Scott later served as chairman of the board after his retirement, and served in that capacity until three months before his death.

Scott was born in Litchfield, Connecticut. His family moved toSouth Bend, Indiana, in 1928, where he attended public schools. He graduated with honors from theUniversity of Notre Dame in 1938, receiving his degree in English. He was briefly a teacher and a school administrator prior toWorld War II.

While at Notre Dame Scott joined theMarine Corps Reserve, and received a commission as asecond lieutenant. He was called to active duty prior to the outbreak of the war. He served with the3rd Marine Division and saw action during theBougainville andGuam campaigns. He received theSilver Star,Bronze Star with valor clasp, and thePurple Heart. Scott was called to active duty during theKorean War, serving inWashington, D.C., as a public relations officer. He retired from the Marine Reserves with the rank ofbrigadier general in 1959.

Following his service in the Korean War, Scott was electedmayor of South Bend. He served from 1952 to 1956.

Scott began his journalism career with theSouth Bend Tribune. He joined Federated Publications and published their newspapers inLafayette, Indiana;Boise, Idaho; andOlympia andBellingham, Washington. When Federated Publications merged with theGannett Company, Scott was named publisher of theHonolulu Star-Bulletin and president of Gannett Pacific. After four years Scott was named president of the Gannett Foundation (now known asThe Freedom Forum), which at the time was ranked one of the largest foundations in the country.

Scott was a prolific speaker, delivering lectures on more than fifty campuses and 100 cities nationwide. He also wrote extensively for papers and magazines.

In 1983 he was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.

Scott died on October 1, 1986, at his home inCocoa Beach, Florida. At roughly the time of his death civic leaders were breaking ground for a waterfront pavilion at Cape Canaveral Hospital that was to be named in his honor.^[1][2]

• 1916 births
• 1986 deaths
• People from Litchfield, Connecticut
• Writers from South Bend, Indiana
• Journalists from Indiana
• Mayors of South Bend, Indiana
• 20th-century American non-fiction writers
• United States Marine Corps generals
• United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
• United States Marine Corps reservists
• 20th-century American journalists
• 20th-century American male writers
• 20th-century Indiana politicians
• 20th-century American male journalists

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages where birth or death is being automatically determined