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Ralph A. Tudor

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Ralph A. Tudor
At West Point in 1923
Under Secretary of the Interior of the United States
In office
1953–1954
PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower
Personal details
Born
Ralph Arnold Tudor

(1902-03-19)March 19, 1902
Colorado Springs, Colorado
DiedNovember 12, 1963(1963-11-12) (aged 61)
Atherton, California
Resting placeWest Point Cemetery
Spouse
Mary Lucile Taylor
​
(m. 1925)​
Education
OccupationEngineer, military officer

Ralph Arnold Tudor (March 19, 1902 – November 12, 1963) was an American builder, civil engineer and Under Secretary of the United States Interior Department. The Ralph A. Tudor Medal awarded by the Society of American Military Engineers is named for him.[1]

Biography

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Ralph Arnold Tudor was born in Colorado Springs on March 19, 1902, and grew up in western Oregon.[2][3] He graduated from Sutherlin High School in 1919. Tudor earned a degree in civil engineering specializing in hydraulics at Cornell University in June 1925. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in June 1923, and was an officer in the Corps of Engineers from June 1924 until leaving the Army in August 1929. Tudor later worked for a number of construction companies in the San Francisco area where he specialized in road and bridge construction.[4][5][6]

He married Mary Lucile Taylor in 1925, and they had one daughter.[4]

Tudor returned to the Army during World War II, serving as a colonel in the Corps of Engineers from March 1941 to April 1946. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for his wartime service.[3][4][7] After the war, he lived in San Francisco and then in Palo Alto, California.[6][7]

Tudor was acquainted with Douglas McKay, a former governor of Oregon, who was appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In March 1953, McKay arranged to have Tudor appointed Under Secretary of the Interior. As Under Secretary, Tudor was responsible for much of the administrative work of the department. He helped select persons to run the various bureaus that were part of the Interior Department, including the Bureau of Mines, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bonneville Power Administration. Tudor coordinated the Department's legislative program and was involved with a number of environmental issues that arose during the early years of the Eisenhower administration, including the Hells Canyon and Echo Park controversies. Tudor served until September 1954 when he resigned to return to his construction business in California.[3]

He died from a heart attack at his home in Atherton, California on November 12, 1963, and was buried at West Point Cemetery.[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ Awards of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) (PDF). Department of Defense Washington Headquarters Services. March 15, 1977. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 23, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  2. ^ Official Register of the Officers and Cadets. United States Military Academy. 1969. p. 368. Retrieved December 23, 2022 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b c d "Ralph Tudor, Engineer, Dies". San Francisco Examiner. November 14, 1963. p. 13. Retrieved December 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c d Assembly. Vol. 22–23. United States Military Academy Association of Graduates. 1963. p. 91. Retrieved December 23, 2022 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York since its establishment in 1802: Supplement, 1920–1930. Vol. VII. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, The Lakeside Press. March 1931. pp. 1726–1727. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Nomination of Ralph A. Tudor To Be Under Secretary of the Department of the Interior". Nominations, Department of the Interior: Hearing Before the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, Eighty-Third Congress, First Session. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. February 5, 1953. pp. 31–32. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  7. ^ a b Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York since its establishment in 1802: Supplement, 1940–1950. Vol. IX. The Association of Graduates, U.S. Military Academy. December 1955. p. 395. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
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