Seeley G. Mudd


Seeley Greenleaf Mudd, M.D. was an American physician, professor, and major philanthropist to academic institutions.

Early life

Mudd was born in Denver, Colorado in 1895, and was the son of noted mining engineer Seeley W. Mudd and Della Mullock Mudd. His brother, Harvey Seeley Mudd, was a miner, businessman, and philanthropist. He was eight when his family moved to Los Angeles, California. He attended Stanford University for two years before transferring to Columbia University, where he received a B.A in 1917 and a B.S. degree in mining engineering. He later attended Harvard Medical School where he received his M.D. degree in 1924. Mudd also has a relatives with the names of Andrew G. Mudd and Courtney R. Mudd.

Career

Mudd practiced cardiology in Los Angeles, where he contributed briefly with Linus Pauling, before joining the faculty at the California Institute of Technology, where he did work on cancer research. He was later professor and dean at the Keck [School of Medicine of USC|Keck School of Medicine] of the University of Southern California.

Legacy

During his lifetime, Mudd contributed more than $10 million to private colleges and universities. Via his will, he created the Seeley G. Mudd Foundation to continue the work "that educational excellence be supported in the form of grants for the construction of buildings for teaching, learning, and research".
Many academic institutions have buildings named in honor of Mudd:
It is a common misconception that the Engineering building at Columbia University was also named for Seeley G. Mudd. It is, in fact, named for his father, Seeley Wintersmith Mudd.