Roland Palmedo

Roland Palmedo

Roland Palmedo (April 5, 1895- March 15, 1977) was a pioneering developer of recreational skiing in the United States. He founded the Mount Mansfield Lift Company which built Stowe’s first chairlift and created the Mad River Glen ski area. Roland Palmedo was also instrumental in the establishment of the National Ski Patrol and the first Women’s U.S. Olympic Ski team. As founding president of the Amateur Ski Club of New York, Palmedo promoted skiing as an outdoor adventure for families and competitive racers alike. Parallel to his ventures in skiing, Roland Palmedo worked as an underwriter at Lehman Brothers. He channeled his experience as a naval aviator in World War I to becoming Robert Lehman’s point man for investments in the early aviation industry, including corporations that were to become Pan American Airways, American Airways and Trans World Airlines.

After graduating from public schools in Montclair New Jersey in 1912, Palmedo set off on a “wanderjahr,” exploring Europe by bicycle. His visit to relatives in the Bavarian town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen began a life-long love of hiking, skiing and outdoor adventure. In the Fall of 1913 he entered Williams College and that winter joined the ski team. Palmedo was also one of the founders and the first President of the Williams Outing Club, created in 1915 and modeled after the Dartmouth Outing Club. In the Spring of 1917 when Roland was to graduate from Williams College, the United States Congress declared war on Germany. Roland Palmedo enlisted with the Naval Air Force upon graduation and served as a naval aviator in World War I. In 1920 Palmedo returned to civilian life and became an underwriter at Lehman Brothers. In 1927, a month after Charles Lindbergh’s solo crossing of the Atlantic, Roland Palmedo worked with Robert Lehman to structure financing for Juan Trippe’s precursor to Pan American Airways. In 1929, Palmedo also worked with Averell Harriman to create the Aviation Corporation of America which conglomerated fledgling airlines and support companies into one entity that would accelerate commercial aviation research and manufacturing. In January 1930, that company spun off Colonial and Universal Air Lines which later merged to form American Airlines. Through his work as an investment banker, Roland Palmedo would eventually serve as director on the boards of the Lehman Corporation, Pan American Airlines, Trans World Airlines and the Libby-Owens-Ford Glass Company. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Palmedo once again enlisted into the Naval Air Force in 1942. He became the Aide to Vice-Admiral Patrick N. L. Bellinger, Commander of the Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet and then served on the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10).

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