Ward Melville
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John Ward Melville (January 5, 1887 - June 5, 1977) was an American philanthropist, and businessman.
John Ward Melville was born in Brooklyn in 1887, son of Frank Melville, Jr. Ward Melville attended college at Columbia University, where he was active in the school newspaper and the Philolexian Society, and he continued to be involved with the university after graduation. After college, Melville married Dorothy Bigelow while working in his father's shoe company (Thom McAn Shoes). Upon the United States' entrance in World War I, Melville became a soldier of the US Army.
After the war, Melville continued to work in his father's company Melville Corporation, eventually taking control of it in 1922. He would also serve as a member of the school board in Setauket, New York, a town on Long Island, where he donated the land for the high school which was named after him. Melville was very active in many philanthropic works around the "three village area" (Stony Brook, Setauket, Old Field) and the surrounding towns. These ranged from restoring old buildings, to natural conservation to supporting education. Among these works was the donation of land that would be used for the site of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Later, he would be made Chairman of the Council of that university by Governor Averill Harriman.
Melville died in 1977 and is buried in Setauket at the Caroline Church.
Ward Melville's legacy is well remembered in western Suffolk County. Numerous organizations that serve various needs are named after him, including a local high school (Ward Melville High School). The main library at Stony Brook University is named for his father.
