Philip Danforth Armour (1832-1901) was born in Stockbridge, New York, of Scottish descent. He was educated at Cazenovia Academy in New York and then worked on the family farm. He later set out across the country to participate in the gold fields of California.

He moved from California to Wisconsin with a sizeable fortune and started a wholesale grocery business. With his brother, Herman, he became involved in the grain business and meat packing plants. Out of this association arose Armour and Company, the largest meat packer in the nation, with headquarters in Chicago.

His meatpacking plants introduced new principles of large-scale organization, as well as refrigeration, to the industry. He is said to have been one of the first to notice the tremendous waste in the slaughtering of hogs and to take advantage of the resale value of waste products. His prestige was dimmed by the scandals of 1898-99 in which his packing-house was charged with selling tainted beef.

In 1893, he founded Armour Institute, which later became the Illinois Institute of Technology.