Francis S. Levien (1905 – June 15, 1995) was an American lawyer and industrialist specialized in the creation of conglomerates. He was a director of Gulf and Western Industries.

Biography

Born in 1905, Levien graduated from Columbia College in 1926 and Columbia Law School in 1928. He began a law practice named Levien, Singer & Neuberger and made a small fortune during the 1930s, when he and his partner, Herbert M. Singer, won a case in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, resulting in the formation of

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. He was also a shareholder of the company. He also formed a partnership with the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

paper merchant Harry E. Gould and turned a marginal steelmaker, the Steel Materials Corporation, into a thriving money-maker from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

military contracts. In 1950, Levien bought a defunct steel mill in Ohio and put it back in operation as the Ohio River Steel Company. In 1951, Levien and Gould traded their stake in the steel company for control of a printing-ink business, Universal Laboratories. They changed the name of the holding company into Universal American Corporation, which acquired companies such as Bohn Aluminum and Brass, Van Norman and Paul Hardeman before merging into Gulf and Western Industries. Levien subsequently became a director of Gulf and Western until his retirement in 1985. He was also a director of several companies, including

Kansas City Southern Industries Kansas City Southern (KCS) is a pure transportation holding company with railroad investments in the United States, Mexico, and Panama. The KCS rail network includes about of track in the U.S. and Mexico.https://www.kcsouthern.com/pdf/communit ...

and

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. In 1962, he donated $1 million towards building a new gymnasium at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

that was named in his honor.

Personal life

Levien married Janice L. Currick in 1936 at the

Savoy-Plaza Hotel The Savoy-Plaza Hotel was a 33-story hotel overlooking Central Park at Fifth Avenue and East 59th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1927 and was demolished in 1965. History Original Savoy Hotel The original Savoy Hotel at ...

. He died on June 15 at Mount Sinai Hospital and was survived by his wife, a daughter, Lorna Lubash, and two grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levien, Francis 1905 births 1995 deaths Gulf and Western Industries Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Law School alumni American philanthropists American industrialists Lawyers from New York City 20th Century Studios people