Adolph William Schmidt (September 13, 1904 – December 17, 2000) was a prominent

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

philanthropist who served as

United States Ambassador to Canada This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Canada.U.S. ...

from 1969 to 1974.

Early life

Adolph W. Schmidt was born in 1904 and raised in

McKeesport, Pennsylvania McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. A suburb of Pittsburgh, it is situated at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers. The population was 17,727 as of the 2020 census. History Early history ...

. He was educated at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

.Profile of Clarke M. Thomas, ''A Patrician of Ideas: A Biography of A. W. Schmidt''
/ref> He met his future wife, Helen "Patsy" Mellon (great-granddaughter of

Thomas Mellon Thomas Mellon (February 3, 1813 – February 3, 1908) was a businessman, judge, and lawyer who was best known as the founder of Mellon Bank and patriarch of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh. Early life and education Mellon was born to farmers An ...

, founder of the

Mellon Bank Mellon Financial Corporation was an American investment firm which was once one of the world's largest money management firms. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was in the business of institutional and high-net-worth individual asset manage ...

), during a

fox hunt Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, normally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of hounds" ...

at the

Rolling Rock Club Rolling Rock Club is a private country club located on along U.S. Route 30 about SE of Pittsburgh, in Laughlintown, Pennsylvania, Ligonier Valley. History Rolling Rock Club was originally of land owned by Judge Thomas Mellon, who left it to h ...

in the Ligonier Valley. The two married in 1936.

Career

Military service

Schmidt joined the military following the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He served in the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

(OSS) as an

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...

during the war, obtaining the rank of Lieutenant colonel. For a part of his service he served abroad in Africa, while his wife Helen was in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

working for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Philanthropy and urban development

After the war, Schmidt became president of the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, serving in that role from 1946 to 1969. In this capacity, he played a major role in " Renaissance I", the

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

. He was also heavily involved in the creation of the

University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health The School of Public Health (sometimes shortened to Pitt Public Health) is one of 17 schools at the University of Pittsburgh. The school, founded in 1948, was first led by Thomas Parran, surgeon general of the U.S. Public Health Service. It is r ...

. Schmidt also served as president of the Presbyterian-University Hospital, was one of the co-founders of the

Pittsburgh Playhouse Pittsburgh Playhouse is Point Park University's performing arts center located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It houses three performance spaces and is home to The Rep, Point Park's resident professional theatre company, as well as three student com ...

, and was the first chairman of the

Three Rivers Arts Festival Three Rivers Arts Festival is an outdoor music and arts festival held each June in the Downtown district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The festival features live music and performance art, as well as visual art and vendors who sell their wares. The ...

Diplomatic service

Schmidt began his diplomatic career when he represented the United States at the 1957 Conference on North Atlantic Community and at the 1962 Atlantic Convention of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Nations. In 1969,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

named Schmidt

United States Ambassador to Canada This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Canada.U.S. ...

. Ambassador Schmidt presented his credentials on September 11, 1969, and served as the U.S. representative in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

until January 29, 1974.

Death and legacy

Schmidt died on December 17, 2000, at the age of 96. He was listed as one of the "Souls who enriched our lives, our region" by the Pittsburgh Tribune in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Adolph 1904 births 2000 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Canada People from McKeesport, Pennsylvania Princeton University alumni Harvard Business School alumni Philanthropists from Pittsburgh