Raymond E. Salvati*

At the age of seven, Raymond Salvati, who wore a brace because of a polio attack, sold newspapers on the streets of his hometown of Monongah, West Virginia. When he was 10, Salvati was able to discard the brace and went to work as a shoeshine boy in a barber shop. By the time he was 13, he was a full-fledged barber and worked from dawn until midnight each Saturday to support himself. To pay his college tuition, Salvati sold pots and pans door to door in the summer.

Salvati graduated from West Virginia University in 1922 as an honor student and became a laborer for Island Creek Coal Company. Within 27 years, he was president of that company. Under his leadership, Island Creek became the third largest commercial coal producer in the world, with sales in 1957 of $125 million. He also served as president of the American Mining Congress.