Obituary: William S. Dietrich II, Steel Magnate and Higher-Education Donor
October 10, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
William S. Dietrich II, the Western Pennsylvania industrialist who twice made headlines last month with multimillion-dollar gifts to local universities, died Thursday at age 73 of complications from cancer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes.
In the weeks before his death, the former chairman of steel supplier Dietrich Industries announced donations of $265-million to Carnegie Mellon University and $125-million to the University of Pittsburgh.
While still running his steel business, Mr. Dietrich earned a master’s and a doctorate in political science from the University of Pittsburgh, and he later served on the boards of both universities. In the last dozen years of his life, he focused on building his charitable trust, which will disburse the funds to the schools.
