- Richard King Mellon
Richard King Mellon (
June 19 ,1899 –June 3 ,1970 ), commonly known as R.K., was an American financier from Ligonier,Pennsylvania . The son ofRichard B. Mellon , nephew ofAndrew W. Mellon , and grandson ofThomas Mellon , he and his sister Sarah Mellon Scaife and cousinsPaul Mellon andAilsa Mellon-Bruce , were heirs to the Mellon fortune, which included major holdings in Mellon Bank,Gulf Oil , andAlcoa . In 1957, when "Fortune" prepared its first list of the wealthiest Americans, it estimated that the four cousins were all amongst the richest eight people in the United States, with fortunes of between 400 and 700 million dollars each.Mellon served in the
United States Army in bothworld war s and remained active in theUnited States Army Reserve , receiving the Distinguished Service Medal and rising to the rank of Lieutenant General.He is chiefly remembered for his
urban renewal efforts in Pittsburgh, undertaken in an unlikely partnership with postwar mayorDavid L. Lawrence . After returning to the city afterWorld War II , Mellon developed an interest in improving Pittsburgh's severe flooding, pollution, and urban blight. Under the auspices of the Allegheny County Community Development Association, massive demolition and redevelopment projects transformed the city, backed politically by Lawrence and financially by Mellon and his companies. Mellon also used his economic power to push companies and landowners to comply with new regulations. see|History_of_Pittsburgh#Renaissance_I_(1946_-_1973)He married Constance Prosser McCaulley, daughter of a
New York banker, in 1936. They had four children: Richard P. Mellon, Seward Prosser Mellon, Constance Barber Mellon, and Cassandra Mellon Milbury. Richard King Mellon was also the primary financial founder ofCarnegie Mellon University 'sHeinz School , then known as the School of Urban and Public Affairs.References
* People, "TIME",
August 14 ,1939
* Fitzpatrick, Dan. " [http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20000521eastliberty1.asp The story of urban renewal] ," "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "May 21 ,2000 External links
* [http://www.pittsburghgreenstory.org/html/mellon.html Pittsburgh Green Story: Richard King Mellon]
* [http://fdncenter.org/grantmaker/rkmellon/ Richard King Mellon Foundation]
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