Laurance Rockefeller
Family Member
Scion of one of America's richest families, he became a committed environmentalist, working to establish several national parks.
As the founding trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, he and his brothers (and his sister Babs) provided venture capital to firms like Apple Computer and Intel.
He donated 33,000 acres of land held by the family to what became the Grand Teton Nation National Park, and helped to enlarge parks in other states.
He was the fourth of six children born to
For his tireless work advising a succession of presidents on conservation issues, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President George Bush.