Foundation Honors Leading Philanthropists

The Carnegie Corporation, in New York, has awarded two of this year’s Andrew Carnegie Medals of Philanthropy to the Mellon and Heinz families, of Pittsburgh, in recognition of their combined legacy of philanthropy, reports The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Also receiving Carnegie medals were the Tata family, of India, and Eli Broad, of Los Angeles.

Vartan Gregorian, who oversaw the selection committee and serves as president of the Carnegie Corporation, said the Heinz family’s support of the environment came into being long before it became a mainstream focus of philanthropy.

Andrew Carnegie “had two fundamental ideas,” Mr. Gregorian tells the paper. “One was, capitalists are trustees of public wealth, and therefore have to use their imagination to reinvest in society — to re-plow. And secondly, he believed that those who died rich died a disgrace.”