Edmund Virgil Conway (August 2, 1929 – October 21, 2015) was an American attorney, banker, philanthropist and civic leader who served as chairman and CEO of the New York State

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...

from 1995 to 2001. The MTA is the umbrella organization for the various agencies that operate the public transportation systems in the 14-county metropolitan New York City area. The operating agencies are: New York City Transit, Metro-North Railroad, Long Island Railroad, and Bridges and Tunnels. Mr. Conway, at his request, served without compensation. He was later chairman of Rittenhouse Advisors and a member of the board of Urstadt Biddle Properties.

Biography

Conway was born in

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stret ...

. Before his appointment as MTA Chairman by Governor

George E. Pataki George Elmer Pataki (; born June 24, 1945) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 53rd governor of New York from 1995 to 2006. An attorney by profession, Pataki was elected mayor of his hometown of Peekskill, New York, and went on ...

, Conway was a member of the MTA Board. He was also as a member of the

New York State Thruway Authority The New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) is a public benefit corporation in New York State, United States. The NYSTA was formed in 1950 with the responsibility of constructing, maintaining, and operating the New York State Thruway, a syste ...

and served on the board until his death. Conway has served on the boards of the

Union Pacific Corporation The Union Pacific Corporation (Union Pacific) is a publicly traded railroad holding company. It was incorporated in Utah in 1969 and is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the parent company of the current, Delaware-registered, form of the ...

Consolidated Edison Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 b ...

Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company The Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company was a mutual insurance company which offers personal, marine, commercial property, and casualty insurance.Atlantic Mutual Companies, ''Meeting the Challenges of Our Time: 2001 Annual Report,'' 2001. It is pa ...

, the mutual funds managed by the Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Company, and Trism, Inc., as well as several other companies. He served as chairman of the New York City Housing Partnership, chairman of the Audit Committee of the City of New York, a member of the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency, and a member of the board of trustees of Colgate University and

Pace University Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pac ...

. He also served as chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC). Conway has served as chairman and president for

Seaman's Bank for Savings Seaman's Furniture was an American chain of furniture stores based in Woodbury, New York. History The company was founded by Julius Seaman in 1933 with its first store in Brooklyn, New York. The chain was in business for more than 70 years unt ...

, as vice chairman of the New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce and Industry, First Deputy Superintendent of Banks of the State of New York, and chairman of the Temporary State Commission on the Water Supply Needs of Southeastern New York. Conway grew up in

Montauk, New York Montauk ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 4,318. The ...

where his father, E. V. Conway was controller for

Carl Fisher Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

's Montauk Beach Company. He served as President of

The New York Young Republican Club The New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC) is an organization for members of the Republican Party between the ages of 18 and 40 in New York City. The New York Young Republican Club is the oldest and largest chapter in the United States, founded ...

from 1962 to 1963. Conway graduated magna cum laude from

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

in 1951, where he was elected to

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

and was initiated into

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of November 2022, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 79 active chapters, 6 Associate chapte ...

fraternity. He graduated cum laude from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

in 1956 and was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from

in 1990 and from Colgate University in 2002 and an honorary doctor of humane letters from the State University of New York at Stonybrook in 1998. He served as an officer in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and is a retired Captain of the United States Air Force Reserve. As a philanthropist, Conway and his wife, Elaine have funded the visitors center at the

Montauk Point Lighthouse The Montauk Point Light, or Montauk Point Lighthouse, is a lighthouse located adjacent to Montauk Point State Park, at the easternmost point of Long Island, in the hamlet of Montauk in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York. The ...

and scholarship funds at Colgate University, the Yale Law School and Pace University. On October 21, 2015, Conway died in Southampton at the age of 85. He received the Gold Medal from

The Hundred Year Association of New York The Hundred Year Association of New York, founded in 1927, is a non-profit organization in New York City that recognizes and rewards dedication and service to the City of New York by businesses and organizations that have been in operation in the ...

in 1986 and the association's annual E. Virgil Conway College Scholarships are awarded to the sons and daughters of New York City employees every year in honor of Conway, who conceived of the scholarship program in 1971. In 1992, he assisted in the formation of the Harlem Youth Development Foundation, a scholarship program for minority youth, which he chaired for many years. He received the

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

Medal of Honor in 1998 as well as honors and awards from many other charitable and educational institutions.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110727114735/http://www.neco.org/awards/recipients/evconway.htmlNeco Award {{DEFAULTSORT:Conway, E. Virgil Lawyers from New York City Colgate University alumni Yale Law School alumni 2015 deaths Executives of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority People from Montauk, New York 1929 births 20th-century American lawyers East Hampton High School alumni