S.J. "Joe" Quinney was a talented lawyer, prominent businessman, and ski industry
pioneer. He was a founding partner in the distinguished Salt Lake City law firm of
Ray, Quinney & Nebeker, where he practiced until his death at age 90. A pioneer in
establishing Utah's ski industry by founding Alta Ski Area, Quinney was a prime force
in the development of Utah's legal and business communities. His enthusiastic, lifelong
interest in and support for art and culture broadened the force of his statewide impact.
He was born May 12, 1893, in Logan. He graduated in three years from Utah Agricultural
College (later Utah State University) in 1916 and headed off to Massachusetts where he
had been accepted at Harvard University Law School. His wife, Jessie Eccles, whom he
married in 1917, attended classes at Radcliffe College. Quinney was drafted into the
Army, and spent the war years in quarantine in Fort Lewis, Washington, during the infamous
influenza epidemic. Jessie had already traveled back to Salt Lake City, where she gave birth
to their first child, David, in 1919. (Their second child, Janet, arrived in 1922.) Following
the war, Quinney resumed his studies at Harvard and graduated in 1919. Upon returning
to Utah, he was admitted to the Utah State Bar and began practicing law. From 1921 to
1922, he was a member of the Utah House of Representatives.
During his 60-year legal career, Quinney served as counsel to George S. and Marriner S.
Eccles of First Security Corporation, Amalgamated Sugar Company, Utah International, Anderson
Lumber, and Pioneer Wholesale Company. He was a member of the Holy Cross Hospital advisory
board, a director and officer of the Utah Symphony, and a member and director of the George
S. and Dolores Doré Eccles, Nora Eccles Treadwell, and Emma Eccles Jones foundations. He
developed, funded, and served on the boards of the S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney and the Ray,
Quinney & Nebeker foundations.
Together with eight other men, he formed the Salt Lake Winter Sports Association in 1938,
which later became the Alta Ski Lifts Company. In 1967, he received the Winter Sports Award
from the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, and, in 1975, he was inducted into the National
Ski Hall of Fame.
In addition to his interests in Alta and in skiing, Quinney had a lifelong regard for natural
resources and the environment. In middle age, he ran the Snake, Yampa, Green, and Colorado
rivers. The Grand Canyon and the red rock country of southern Utah inspired him. His attachment
to northern Utah—especially Logan Canyon and his summer home at Bear Lake—was a constant
throughout his life. Before his death, Quinney contributed to the College of Natural Resources
at Utah State University, and his foundation supported construction of the college's classroom
building and library, in addition to other USU programs. He was a friend of the writer, Wallace
Stegner, and, in 1996, a foundation contribution of $2.5 million was donated to support the College
of Law's Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment; the law library; and
student scholarships. It was the college's largest gift up to that time, and the library was
named for Quinney in 1997.
He was a member of the President's Club at the U of U and of the Old Main Society at Utah State
University, which awarded him an honorary doctorate of law in 1976. Both Quinney and his wife were
named alumni of the year in 1980 for their contributions to USU's growth.
In November 2001, in acknowledgement of a $26 million endowment gift pledge from the S.J. and
Jessie E. Quinney Foundation (bringing its commitment to the law school to more than $30
million), the college was named in honor of Mr. Quinney. The gift secures our future, and will
take us to the highest rank of quality and accomplishment in legal education.
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