Frederic Adrian Delano

Frederic Adrian Delano
Portrait of Frederic Adrian Delano
Born	September 10, 1863 Manhattan, New York, US
Died	March 28, 1953 (1953-03-29) (aged 89) Boston, Massachusetts, US
Nationality	United States

Frederic Adrian Delano II (September 10, 1863 – March 28, 1953) was an American railroad president born in Manhattan, New York. He was a member of the Delano family as a son of Warren Delano Jr. and Catherine Robbins Lyman, brother of Sara Ann Delano, and uncle of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His philanthropic work through the Commercial Club of Chicago strongly impacted his nephew's Presidential policies. Delano was Chairman of the Committee on the Regional Plan for New York and Its Environs, which released the regional plan for New York on May 27, 1929. He was also a prime organizer of the Regional Plan for New York and Its Environs, published in 1928. He was also a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago which affected the development of Chicago in the 19th and 20th centuries. Delano was the first vice-chairman of the Federal Reserve and the National Resources Planning Board.

After graduating from Harvard University in 1885, Delano was employed by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad in various capacities, rising from the position of civil engineer to be general manager at Chicago. For a time he was consulting engineer to the United States War Department in respect to the railroads of the Philippine Islands. In 1905 he became president of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad, of the Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal Railway, and of the Wabash Railroad. Delano was appointed one of the receivers for the Wabash in 1911, and in 1913, he was elected president of the Monon Railroad (succeeding Fairfax Harrison). He was vice president of the American Unitarian Association in 1907. His addresses were published under the titles Questions of the Hour (1911) and Are Our Railroads Fairly Treated? (1913). He was also the chairman of the influential National Capital Park and Planning Commission and helped approve and oversee the building of the Pentagon.