Founders in history, Visionaries at heart. Industrial Titans, Revolutionary Philanthropists Because Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon shared their wealth, higher education would never be the same. Founders, forward. Andrew W. Mellon belonged to a remarkable American generation which witnessed the creation and accumulation of individual fortunes in unprecedented abundance by such notables as Rockefeller, Ford, Carnegie, Morgan, and Frick. But among these figures, Mellon was unique in that he excelled in four fields of endeavor: as a businessman and banker; as a politician and statesman; as an art collector; and as a philanthropist.
The Mellons were Protestant immigrants from Northern Ireland who had settled in western Pennsylvania in At an early age, Andrew joined his father Thomas, and his brother Richard, in the management of the family bank, T. Mellon and Sons, which soon became the prime financial agent in the transformation of western Pennsylvania into one of the richest industrial regions in the United States during the forty years before the First World War.
He rarely interested himself in the details of such businesses, but he acquired extensive holdings, which meant that by he was one of the richest men in the United States. But Mellon was still almost unknown outside Pittsburgh, and it was only his appointment as Secretary of the Treasury in by Warren Harding which turned him into a national figure.
In his book, The Chemistry of Commerce, Duncan proposed a program of industrial fellowships that would employ university researchers in the investigation of manufacturing concerns. In the same year, he oversaw the establishment of the first such fellowship at the University of Kansas to investigate chemical problems in laundering. Duncan quickly became convinced of the merits of the industrial fellowship system and grew the program to eight fellowships by It seems clear that these problems can best be answered by combining the practical knowledge and the large facilities of the factory with the new and special knowledge of the universities, and by making this combination through young men who will find therein success and opportunity.
The brothers Andrew W. Mellon — , prominent Pittsburgh financiers and philanthropists, were alert to the manufacturing deficiencies Duncan sought to address.
Their fortunes having been built largely on the application of new technologies in industry, the brothers understood the promise of science to the progress of industry. With the backing of the Mellon brothers, Duncan moved to Pittsburgh to organize and direct the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research and School of Specific Industries, founded in within the University of Pittsburgh.
Fellowships were contracted by industrial sponsors to investigate specific problems. Fellows ranged from young scientists without advanced degrees which they were encouraged to attain, and many did, through the University of Pittsburgh or in later years through the Carnegie Institute of Technology to senior fellows who held academic positions at nearby universities.
No fellowship was accepted for a period of less than one year, and many fellowships spanned terms of 10 years or longer. Any discoveries resulting from Mellon Institute investigations belonged to the sponsoring organization, but the Institute reserved the right to publish the results of its investigations after a period of three years following the conclusion of the fellowship publishing rights later became more restrictive.
From its inception the Institute emphasized research spanning the fields of chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering. Fellowships in basic research dated from the s and expanded significantly in with the creation of a program of independent research.
Duncan died in , shortly before the opening of a dedicated building for the Mellon Institute on the University of Pittsburgh campus in now Allen Hall. Edward R. In the Institute was incorporated as an independent, nonprofit organization, and its name was changed to the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research shortened in to Mellon Institute.
Despite its independence, the Institute continued to cooperate with the University of Pittsburgh and the nearby Carnegie Institute of Technology. The Institute operated from the University of Pittsburgh campus until the current Mellon Institute building opened in at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Bellefield Avenue.
The Carnegie Technical Schools offered two- and three-year certificates in the arts as well as in engineering disciplines and included a college for women, Margaret Morrison Carnegie College. Soon faced with the demand for baccalaureate programs, Carnegie Technical Schools began offering bachelor's degrees through its College of Engineering and College of Fine Arts, becoming the Carnegie Institute of Technology, or "Carnegie Tech.
During the first half of the 20th century, with support from Andrew Carnegie and other funders, Carnegie Tech laid the foundation for a school on the cutting edge. Some key developments were:. In , the arrival of the first IBM computer to campus was revolutionary, initiating a university culture where information technology pervaded virtually all areas of study. University culture also changed in when Margaret Morrison closed and women joined their male peers in classrooms and dorms.
In , Carnegie Tech merged with the Mellon Institute, a science research center founded by the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, to become known as Carnegie Mellon University. The merger built upon a long history of support from the Mellons.
In , Carnegie Mellon celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Carnegie Tech-Mellon Institute merger, revisiting the shared vision of the founders and recognizing the impact it has had, and will continue to have, in the world of higher education, research and discovery.
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