ANDREW W. MELLON

Businessman, political leader, and philanthropist

Andrew W. Mellon served as United States Secretary of the Treasury under three Presidents from 1921 until 1932, and was one of the most trusted and influential political figures of the time. He became one of the three most wealthy men in the nation, and amassed one of the most valuable private art collections in the world. He donated this collection to the U. S. government, along with money, which was the basis for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (see History of the National Gallery)

Mellon was born in Pittsburgh, PA, on March 24, 1855 and died on August 26, 1937. He graduated from the Western University of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh) and was trained as a lawyer, but joined and inherited his father's bank, T. Mellon & Sons, (now Mellon Financial Corp.) and built up a huge fortune in the coal, coke, banking, iron, and steel industries. In 1998, American Heritage Magazine named him one of the 40 Wealthiest Americans of All Time. He founded the town of Donora, PA, where he built steel mills, and helped establish the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), Gulf Oil Corp., Union Steel Co., Pittsburgh Coal Co., and many other firms.