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A Patrician of Ideas: A Biography of A.W. Schmidt
A Patrician of Ideas A Biography of AW Schmidt Author:Clarke M. Thomas Meticulously researched and fascinating to read, A Patrician of Ideas chronicles the remarkable life of McKeesport native Adolph W. Schmidt (1904-2000). A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School, Schmidt married Patsy Mellon (granddaughter of Thomas Alexander) in 1936. He served as an intelligence officer in World War II, m... more »anaged the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust from 1946 to 1969 (and again in its closing years of 1979-80), and served as U. S. Ambassador to Canada from 1969 to 1974.
In summing up Schmidt's influence, author Clarke Thomas notes:
"As scholars continue to delve into the history of Pittsburgh, there will be an increasing realization of the role Adolph Schmidt played in the Renaissance of the 1950s and, through his management of the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, of the development of numerous institutions, most notably the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh .... But in a curious way, his most lasting legacy may be in the realm of ideas. For Schmidt was more than an old-fashioned country-club 'patrician' He was a man of ideas who worked assiduously with others to attempt to bring them to fruition."« less