Stephen Mather
Stephen Mather | |
|---|---|
| 1st Director of the National Park Service | |
| In office May 16, 1917 – January 8, 1929 | |
| President | Woodrow Wilson Warren Harding Calvin Coolidge |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Horace M. Albright |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 4, 1867 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Died | January 22, 1930 (aged 62) Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Resting place | Mather Cemetery, Darien, Connecticut |
| Spouse | Jane T. Floy (1893) |
| Children | Bertha Floy Mather |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
| Occupation | Businessman Naturalist |
| Awards | Public Welfare Medal (1930) |
Stephen Tyng Mather (July 4, 1867 – January 22, 1930) was an American industrialist and conservationist who was the first director of the National Park Service. As president and owner of Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company he became a millionaire. Along with journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather led a publicity campaign known as the Mather Mountain Party to promote the creation of a unified federal agency to oversee National Parks administration, which was established in 1916. In 1917, Mather was appointed to lead the NPS, the new agency created within the Department of the Interior. He served until 1929, during which time Mather created a professional civil service organization, increased the numbers of parks and national monuments, and established systematic criteria for adding new properties to the federal system.