Harvey Seeley Mudd
Encyclopedia
Harvey Seeley Mudd was a mining engineer and founder, investor, and president of Cyprus Mines Corporation
, a Los Angeles-based international enterprise that operated copper mines on the island of Cyprus
. The science and engineering college Harvey Mudd College
was named in memory of him. He was also a Vice President of the Board of Trustees for the California Institute of Technology
.
His father, Colonel Seeley W. Mudd
(1861–1926) was also a mining engineer. In 1907 he developed the Ray Copper Mine in Arizona, which is still in production.
Harvey S. Mudd's remains are interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California
.
Mudd's mother was Della Mullock Mudd.
Harvey Mudd had a younger brother, Seeley G. Mudd
(1895–1968), who became a physician and cancer researcher at the California Institute of Technology. Seeley G. Mudd was later professor and dean at the School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.
In 1902, Col. Seeley Mudd moved his family to Los Angeles
, California, where Col. Mudd worked as a consulting engineer for the Guggenheim Exploration Company.
Harvey Mudd attended Stanford University
for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University
. He received a degree in mining engineering in 1912.
In ancient times, Cyprus was famous for its copper (the Greek word for Cyprus is Kupros, which means copper). However, at the time the Mudds began the Cyprus Mines Corp., copper had not been mined on Cyprus for almost 1500 years. With the backing of Colonel Seeley Mudd, geologist Charles Godfrey Gunther began a long and finally successful search for new copper on Cyprus. However, twenty years passed before the Cyprus Mines Corp. paid its first dividends in 1936.
In 1918, Mudd became president of Cyprus Mines Corporation. Mudd became chairman of Cyprus Mines in 1926 when his father died. As head of Cyprus Mines, Harvey Mudd developed and managed copper mines in the Mediterranean, as well as an iron mine in Peru and oil properties in the United States.
At the time of Harvey Mudd's death in 1955, the company's copper mines on Cyprus had become the island's largest industry, exporting nearly a million tons of copper a year. Mudd's copper mines on Cyprus supported 2,000 of the island's inhabitants and provided more than 25 percent of the island's entire annual revenue. Cyprus Mines paid its employees 15-20 percent above the island average. The company ran an up-to-date, 65-bed hospital for its employees, built scores of low-cost houses for them to live in, and helped to run schools, sports clubs, welfare centers, and summer camps for their families.
Mudd served as president of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers
in 1945. In 1949, the Columbia University Engineering School Alumni Association awarded him its Egleston Medal for distinguished engineering achievement.
In 1939, Time Magazine described Mildred Mudd as "Tall, dark, [and] slender." Time further described Mrs. Mudd as "a typical society matron, noted for her large & lavish parties, her charitable activities, [and] her ancient Roman jewelry (dug up in Cyprus)." Mildred Mudd became involved with the Girl Scouts
in 1934 at the recommendation of Lou Henry Hoover
, the wife of former U.S. President Herbert Hoover
. In the next five years, Mildred Mudd was able to double the Girl Scout enrollment in Los Angeles. Mildred Mudd served as the national president of the Girl Scouts 1939-1941.
Mildred Mudd was elected as the first chairman of the Board of Trustees of Harvey Mudd College, serving from 1955 until 1958. Mildred Mudd died in 1958 at the age of 67.
Harvey Mudd lived in Beverly Hills on Benedict Canyon Drive. The Tudor style residence was designed for Charles Boldt, owner of the Ohio based Boldt Glass Co. that produced the popular Mason jars, by architect Elmer Grey
in 1922. The residence is on an acre of land with seven bedrooms and a swimming pool. In 2008, the house was listed for sale at a price of $11.495 million. The historic property is known as the Harvey Mudd Estate.
, the Welfare Federation of Los Angeles, and Greater Los Angeles Plans, Inc. He was a trustee and former president of the Southwest Museum
, a member of the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles County Museum
, and member of the advisory committee of the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. He was also Chairman of the Board of Fellows of Claremont College
.
As Chairman of the Southern California Symphony Association, Mudd is credited with saving the Los Angeles Philharmonic
. Fellow copper baron William Andrews Clark, Jr.
had founded the Philharmonic in 1919, but he had exhausted his fortune supporting the orchestra. To oversee the Philharmonic, the Southern California Symphony Association was created in 1933 with Mudd as chairman. Mudd personally guaranteed the salary of conductor Otto Klemperer
. Mudd led fundraising efforts to enable the Philharmonic to continue performing through the Great Depression
. Mudd is also credited with starting the Philharmonic's tradition of taking the stuffiness out of high culture.
in 1929. He served on both the finance committee and the executive committee. He later served as Vice President of the Board of Trustees.
In 1954, Caltech faculty member Linus Pauling
, upon winning the Nobel Prize
in chemistry, sent Mudd a letter thanking Mudd and the Caltech Board of Trustees for "providing here an atmosphere, second to none in the world, that is favorable to research."
Mudd's will left $50,000 to Caltech for research on the genesis of ore deposits.
Two geology buildings at Caltech are named for Harvey Mudd's father: the Seeley W. Mudd Laboratory (North Mudd) and the Seeley W. Mudd Building (South Mudd).
in Claremont, California
. He served as Chairman of the Board of Fellows of Claremont College, now The Claremont Graduate University
and University Center, for a quarter of a century. Harvey Mudd helped in the founding of Claremont McKenna College
in 1945. He helped to plan Claremont's new undergraduate college of science and engineering that was chartered in 1955, shortly after his death.
After Harvey Mudd's death in 1955, his friends proposed to his widow, Mildred Mudd, that the planned college be named for Harvey Mudd. She agreed, and helped support the founding. The new college was founded later that year. Harvey Mudd College
would award degrees in science and engineering, but require a breadth of understanding in the humanities and the social sciences.
Harvey Mudd's widow and family contributed $2 million to endow Harvey Mudd College.
.
Cyprus Mines Corporation
The Cyprus Mines Corporation was an early twentieth century American mining company based in Cyprus. In 1914, Charles G. Gunther began prospecting in the Skouriotissa area after reading in ancient books that the island was rich in copper and noticing promising ancient Roman slag heaps in the area....
, a Los Angeles-based international enterprise that operated copper mines on the island of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. The science and engineering college Harvey Mudd College
Harvey Mudd College
Harvey Mudd College is a private residential liberal arts college of science, engineering, and mathematics, located in Claremont, California. It is one of the institutions of the contiguous Claremont Colleges, which share adjoining campus grounds....
was named in memory of him. He was also a Vice President of the Board of Trustees for the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
.
His father, Colonel Seeley W. Mudd
Seeley W. Mudd
Col. Seeley Wintersmith Mudd was a mining engineer. He was born in Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri on August 16, 1861. He attended Washington University of St. Louis, where he graduated in 1883 with a degree in mining engineering. In December 1885, he moved to Leadville, Colorado, to...
(1861–1926) was also a mining engineer. In 1907 he developed the Ray Copper Mine in Arizona, which is still in production.
Harvey S. Mudd's remains are interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale, California
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
.
Early life
Harvey Mudd was born in Leadville, Colorado, in 1888. Mudd's father, Colonel Seeley W. Mudd, was the manager of the Small Hopes silver mine in Leadville.Mudd's mother was Della Mullock Mudd.
Harvey Mudd had a younger brother, Seeley G. Mudd
Seeley G. Mudd
Seeley Greenleaf Mudd, M.D. was an American physician, professor, and philanthropist.Mudd was born in Denver, Colorado in 1895, and was the son of noted mining engineer Seeley W. Mudd and brother of Harvey S. Mudd, also a miner, businessman, and philanthropist. He was eight when his family moved...
(1895–1968), who became a physician and cancer researcher at the California Institute of Technology. Seeley G. Mudd was later professor and dean at the School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.
In 1902, Col. Seeley Mudd moved his family to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California, where Col. Mudd worked as a consulting engineer for the Guggenheim Exploration Company.
Harvey Mudd attended Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. He received a degree in mining engineering in 1912.
Mining career
Mudd and his father founded the Cyprus Mines Corporation in 1916. The Los Angeles-based enterprise started with development of the copper mines on the island of Cyprus.In ancient times, Cyprus was famous for its copper (the Greek word for Cyprus is Kupros, which means copper). However, at the time the Mudds began the Cyprus Mines Corp., copper had not been mined on Cyprus for almost 1500 years. With the backing of Colonel Seeley Mudd, geologist Charles Godfrey Gunther began a long and finally successful search for new copper on Cyprus. However, twenty years passed before the Cyprus Mines Corp. paid its first dividends in 1936.
In 1918, Mudd became president of Cyprus Mines Corporation. Mudd became chairman of Cyprus Mines in 1926 when his father died. As head of Cyprus Mines, Harvey Mudd developed and managed copper mines in the Mediterranean, as well as an iron mine in Peru and oil properties in the United States.
At the time of Harvey Mudd's death in 1955, the company's copper mines on Cyprus had become the island's largest industry, exporting nearly a million tons of copper a year. Mudd's copper mines on Cyprus supported 2,000 of the island's inhabitants and provided more than 25 percent of the island's entire annual revenue. Cyprus Mines paid its employees 15-20 percent above the island average. The company ran an up-to-date, 65-bed hospital for its employees, built scores of low-cost houses for them to live in, and helped to run schools, sports clubs, welfare centers, and summer camps for their families.
Mudd served as president of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers
The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers is a professional body for mining and metallurgy, with 90,000 members. It was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, United States, being one of the first national engineering societies in the...
in 1945. In 1949, the Columbia University Engineering School Alumni Association awarded him its Egleston Medal for distinguished engineering achievement.
Personal life
Harvey Mudd's wife was Mildred E. Mudd (1891–1958). They had two children: Henry T. Mudd (1913–1990) and Caryll Mudd Sprague (1914–1978). Caryll Mudd's husband was Norman F. Sprague, Jr. (1914–1997), a medical doctor. Henry Mudd succeeded his father as head of the Cyprus Mines Corporation.In 1939, Time Magazine described Mildred Mudd as "Tall, dark, [and] slender." Time further described Mrs. Mudd as "a typical society matron, noted for her large & lavish parties, her charitable activities, [and] her ancient Roman jewelry (dug up in Cyprus)." Mildred Mudd became involved with the Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts of the USA
The Girl Scouts of the United States of America is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It describes itself as "the world's preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls". It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 and was organized after Low...
in 1934 at the recommendation of Lou Henry Hoover
Lou Henry Hoover
Lou Henry Hoover was the wife of President of the United States Herbert Hoover and First Lady of the United States, 1929-1933. Mrs. Hoover was president of the Girl Scouts of the USA for two terms, 1922-1925 and 1935-1937....
, the wife of former U.S. President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
. In the next five years, Mildred Mudd was able to double the Girl Scout enrollment in Los Angeles. Mildred Mudd served as the national president of the Girl Scouts 1939-1941.
Mildred Mudd was elected as the first chairman of the Board of Trustees of Harvey Mudd College, serving from 1955 until 1958. Mildred Mudd died in 1958 at the age of 67.
Harvey Mudd lived in Beverly Hills on Benedict Canyon Drive. The Tudor style residence was designed for Charles Boldt, owner of the Ohio based Boldt Glass Co. that produced the popular Mason jars, by architect Elmer Grey
Elmer Grey
Elmer Grey, FAIA was an American architect and artist based in Pasadena, California. Grey designed many noted landmarks in Southern California, including the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Huntington Art Gallery, the Pasadena Playhouse and Wattles Mansion...
in 1922. The residence is on an acre of land with seven bedrooms and a swimming pool. In 2008, the house was listed for sale at a price of $11.495 million. The historic property is known as the Harvey Mudd Estate.
Civic Leadership
At the time of Mudd's death, he was Chairman of the Board of the Southern California Symphony AssociationLos Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
, the Welfare Federation of Los Angeles, and Greater Los Angeles Plans, Inc. He was a trustee and former president of the Southwest Museum
Southwest Museum
The Southwest Museum of the American Indian is a museum, library, and archive located in the Mt. Washington area of Los Angeles, California. It is part of the Autry National Center. Its collections deal mainly with the American Indian...
, a member of the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles County Museum
Los Angeles County Museum
The Los Angeles County Museum may refer to:* Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County* Los Angeles County Museum of Art...
, and member of the advisory committee of the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. He was also Chairman of the Board of Fellows of Claremont College
Claremont Graduate University
Claremont Graduate University is a private, all-graduate research university located in Claremont, California, a city east of downtown Los Angeles...
.
As Chairman of the Southern California Symphony Association, Mudd is credited with saving the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Los Angeles Philharmonic
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
. Fellow copper baron William Andrews Clark, Jr.
William Andrews Clark, Jr.
William Andrews Clark, Jr. , son of U.S. senator and billionaire William Andrews Clark, was the founder of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1919. Clark also had a hand in the construction of the Hollywood Bowl. Clark was an avid collector of rare books, especially fine prints...
had founded the Philharmonic in 1919, but he had exhausted his fortune supporting the orchestra. To oversee the Philharmonic, the Southern California Symphony Association was created in 1933 with Mudd as chairman. Mudd personally guaranteed the salary of conductor Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany...
. Mudd led fundraising efforts to enable the Philharmonic to continue performing through the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Mudd is also credited with starting the Philharmonic's tradition of taking the stuffiness out of high culture.
Caltech
Mudd became a member of the Board of Trustees for the California Institute of TechnologyCalifornia Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
in 1929. He served on both the finance committee and the executive committee. He later served as Vice President of the Board of Trustees.
In 1954, Caltech faculty member Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
, upon winning the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
in chemistry, sent Mudd a letter thanking Mudd and the Caltech Board of Trustees for "providing here an atmosphere, second to none in the world, that is favorable to research."
Mudd's will left $50,000 to Caltech for research on the genesis of ore deposits.
Two geology buildings at Caltech are named for Harvey Mudd's father: the Seeley W. Mudd Laboratory (North Mudd) and the Seeley W. Mudd Building (South Mudd).
Harvey Mudd College
Mudd had a particular interest in The Claremont CollegesClaremont Colleges
The Claremont Colleges are a prestigious American consortium of five undergraduate and two graduate schools of higher education located in Claremont, California, a city east of downtown Los Angeles...
in Claremont, California
Claremont, California
Claremont is a small affluent college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of the 2010 census is 34,926. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its...
. He served as Chairman of the Board of Fellows of Claremont College, now The Claremont Graduate University
Claremont Graduate University
Claremont Graduate University is a private, all-graduate research university located in Claremont, California, a city east of downtown Los Angeles...
and University Center, for a quarter of a century. Harvey Mudd helped in the founding of Claremont McKenna College
Claremont McKenna College
Claremont McKenna College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college and a member of the Claremont Colleges located in Claremont, California. The campus is located east of Downtown Los Angeles...
in 1945. He helped to plan Claremont's new undergraduate college of science and engineering that was chartered in 1955, shortly after his death.
After Harvey Mudd's death in 1955, his friends proposed to his widow, Mildred Mudd, that the planned college be named for Harvey Mudd. She agreed, and helped support the founding. The new college was founded later that year. Harvey Mudd College
Harvey Mudd College
Harvey Mudd College is a private residential liberal arts college of science, engineering, and mathematics, located in Claremont, California. It is one of the institutions of the contiguous Claremont Colleges, which share adjoining campus grounds....
would award degrees in science and engineering, but require a breadth of understanding in the humanities and the social sciences.
Harvey Mudd's widow and family contributed $2 million to endow Harvey Mudd College.
Death
Mudd died of a heart attack on April 12, 1955, at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was 66 years old. He was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
.
External links
- Mudd Family history (scroll down)
- Caltech Newsletter