Maxwell King, former foundation leader, community and environmental advocate, bestselling author and distinguished journalist, has joined The Heinz Endowments Board of Directors, marking his return to the institution he served as President for almost a decade. He will serve for an initial three-year term.
Mr. King originally joined the Endowments in 1999 following a 25-year career with the Philadelphia Inquirer, including eight years as Editor and Executive Vice President. After leaving the Endowments, he subsequently served for nearly six years as President and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation, the region’s major community foundation.
During his tenure as President of the Endowments, Mr. King was a forceful and effective advocate of the Heinz family’s vision that the foundation become an international model for green building and the adoption of sustainable development principles. He received widespread recognition for his strong leadership on environmental issues and in supporting programs to foster greater diversity in the Pittsburgh community.
Other areas in which he made significant contributions included the promotion of literacy, civic design, early childhood education, and academic reform in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.
“We are delighted to welcome Max back to the Endowments, and his thoughtfulness, experience and razor-sharp mind will be invaluable to our Board as we work to address our region’s challenges and opportunities in ways that benefit all in our community,” said André Heinz, Endowments’ Board Chairman. “Max has excelled, not only in his past accomplishments with the Endowments, but in all that he achieved before and since. He is passionately devoted to the Pittsburgh community, and he is a keen advocate for our institution’s core values and philanthropic mission. He is a great professional and a special friend.”
Mr. King is author of a poetry collection, the New York Times-bestselling biography, The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers, and American Workman: The Life and Art of John Kane.
He has served on numerous boards, locally and nationally, including as Board Chairman of the Council on Foundations, and most recently as Board Chairman of the Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corp. He is an Emeritus board member of Pittsburgh’s Senator John Heinz Regional History Center.
Mr. King has received several honorary doctorates in recognition of his work, and was named Pittsburgher of the Year by Pittsburgh Magazine. Among the many awards he has received are the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award by the Coro Fellows Program for young professionals, the Coleman Award, presented by the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Politics for excellence in leadership, the 20th Anniversary Spirit of Enterprise Fred Rogers Good Neighbor Award, the Exemplary Leadership Award from the Johnson Institute at the University of Pittsburgh, and the President’s Award for lifetime achievement from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania.
Mr. King received his Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Harvard University, and he attended the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.