author
Frederick P. (Frederick Paul) Keppel
1875–1943
A college dean, wartime public servant, and major philanthropy leader, he helped shape American education and cultural life in the early 20th century. His career moved from Columbia University to Washington and then to the Carnegie Corporation, where he backed ambitious work in learning, research, and the arts.
1 Audiobook
Some War-time Lessons The Soldier's Standards of Conduct; The War As a Practical Test of American Scholarship; What Have We Learned?
by Frederick P. (Frederick Paul) Keppel
About the author
Born in Staten Island, New York, in 1875, Frederick Paul Keppel grew up around books, prints, and ideas through his family's art and print business. He studied at Columbia, joined the university's administration not long after graduating, and became dean of Columbia College while still a relatively young man.
During World War I, he served as Third Assistant Secretary of War, taking on demanding organizational work during a period of national mobilization. After the war, he returned briefly to university life before moving into philanthropy, where his administrative skill and broad cultural interests found an even larger stage.
Keppel is best remembered as president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, a role he held through much of the 1920s and 1930s. There he supported education, scholarship, libraries, and the arts, helping direct one of the country's most influential foundations. He died in 1943, leaving a reputation for practical leadership and a strong belief in the public value of learning and culture.