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Our first corporation
Stafford man writes book on Harvard University, portraying it as America's oldest corporationDate published: 8/29/2008 BY BILL FREEHLING Harvard University is best known as one of the world's most prestigious academic institutions, but it's also a financial juggernaut. The Massachusetts school's endowment has recently been pegged at $35 billion. But Harvard, founded in 1636, wasn't always the powerhouse that it is today. Its first president, Henry Dunster, helped the school scrape by, and in 1650 formed a corporation that still exists. That means Harvard was America's first corporation (126 years older than the United States itself) and Dunster its first president and CEO, writes Stafford County's Jim Melnick in a new book titled "America's Oldest Corporation and First CEO: Harvard and Henry Dunster." Melnick, who has lived in Stafford since 1993, got a master's degree from Harvard in 1977. He focused on Russian-area studies and went on to analyze Soviet/Russian affairs for the Defense Intelligence Agency. Melnick retired in 2006 as a colonel in intelligence in the U.S. Army Reserve, and now works in the private sector for a Dallas-based risk-management company on issues involving cyber security. Melnick's Harvard experience had a profound effect on him. He founded a group called the Henry Dunster Association to promote the man's memory and legacy. Melnick, who lives near Hartwood, plans a full biography on Dunster. The Free Lance-Star interviewed Melnick about his book, which was published in January and can be purchased from a variety of sources, including ama zon.com. Autographed copies are available by contacting Melnick at What brought you to Stafford County? We came here from Northern Virginia to have a better life for our children and to escape what I came to regard, during the years that I worked at the Pentagon, as the plastic-culture environment of the D.C. area. When/why did you start the Henry Dunster Association? I began the Henry Dunster Association as a means of honoring Dunster's heritage and to make his name better known among those who may have never heard of him. He had such an enormous impact on our early American institutions. The other impetus was the 400th anniversary of his birth next year in 2009. What are some of the things you most admire about Dunster?
Date published: 8/29/2008
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