Title: Andrew Carnegie
Headings: Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Content: It was clearly a formative experience, and one which he hoped might be of similar benefit to others. Starting in 1885, Carnegie began funding the construction of thousands of libraries. ( The precise number he built is disputed; at the time of his death, the tally stood at 2,811 libraries. To ensure that communities were equally invested, he would only pay for buildings—and only after local authorities showed him credible plans for acquiring books and hiring staff. During his lifetime, Carnegie created a number of charitable institutions that bore his name. In 1900, he founded the Carnegie Technical Schools, later the Carnegie Institute, and known today as Carnegie Mellon University, one of the world’s leading research universities. In 1904, he created what he called his “pet child,” the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, which recognizes and rewards individuals who spontaneously risk life and limb to rush to the aid of others. A year later, he launched the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, whose many accomplishments include the Flexner Report (which revolutionized American medical education) and the provision of pensions to college faculty members (which increased the attractiveness of an academic career). Other organizations would bear his name, including the Carnegie Relief Fund (for the benefit of injured steelworkers), the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust (to support his hometown), and the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (to bolster higher education in his native land).