Ralph A. Tudor

Ralph A. Tudor (1902 - 1962) was a builder, civil engineer and Under Secretary of the United States Interior Department. The Ralph A. Tudor Medal awarded by the Society of American Military Engineers is named for him.^[1]

Ralph Arnold Tudor was born in Colorado and grew up in western Oregon. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1923 and was an officer in the Corps of Engineers until leaving the army in 1929. He later worked for a number of construction companies in the San Francisco area where he specialized in road and bridge construction.

Tudor was acquainted with Douglas McKay, a former governor of Oregon, who was appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In March 1953 McKay arranged to have Tudor appointed Under Secretary of the Interior. As Under Secretary, Tudor was responsible for much of the administrative work of the department. He helped select persons to run the various bureaus that were part of the Interior Department, including the Bureau of Mines, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bonneville Power Administration. Tudor coordinated the Department’s legislative program and was involved with a number of environmental issues that arose during the early years of the Eisenhower administration, including the Hells Canyon and Echo Park controversies. Tudor served until September 1954 when he resigned to return to his construction business in California.

References

External links

• Papers of Ralph A. Tudor, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
• Finding aid to the Tudor Engineering Company Records, Bancroft Library