William Myron Keck

William Myron Keck (April 27, 1880 – August 20, 1964) was an American oil entrepreneur and philanthropist who is now best known for giving his name to the W. M. Keck Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. After his father left home to work in the oil fields, he landed a job selling sandwiches on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to support his mother.[1] In 1921, Keck founded the Superior Oil Company in Coalinga, California. In 1954, he founded the W. M. Keck Foundation.[2]

The W. M. Keck Foundation is responsible for the construction of the giant Keck Telescopes through a $140 million grant.

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Visionary Philanthropy: A Home Run!". W. M. Keck Observatory. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Founder". W M Keck Foundation. Retrieved 28 April 2015.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 20, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.