Henry Posner Jr. saw the value and power of small things: how molecules could lift a rocket into space, and how a personal touch could lift a corporation to prosperity.
A scientist, entrepreneur, head of 26 companies and philanthropist who donated most of his wealth, Mr. Posner died Wednesday after a lingering illness in UPMC Shadyside, surrounded by family and friends. He was 92.
"He was the wisest person I've ever known," said his son, Henry Posner III. "And that's largely because he was not somebody who was afraid to take chances."
The chances he took brought him into the secretive halls of the Manhattan Project, where he helped develop the atomic bomb; on journeys into Iran and around Cape Horn; into an Atlantic hurricane at the helm of a 40-foot sailboat when he was 63; to the top of the Great Wall of China at 78; and onto the ancient peaks of the Peruvian Andes at 82.
His business ventures began at his father's company, Pittsburgh Outdoor Advertising, and grew to include real estate holdings such as the Dominion Tower, Downtown, media companies and the formation of Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. of Madison, Wis., and Rockford, Ill.
He co-founded The Hawthorne Group, a holding company, in 1986 with Tom Wright.
"It is a relationship I will cherish," Wright said.
Jim Roddey, former Allegheny County executive and partner in The Hawthorne Group, met Mr. Posner in 1964, and they became business partners 15 years later.
"He was my best friend," Roddey said.
An only son, Mr. Posner graduated valedictorian from Shady Side Academy, and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University with a degree in physical chemistry in 1941.
As the country prepared for war, Mr. Posner developed solid fuel for rockets, as well as take-off boosters for propeller-driven B-17 and B-29 bombers at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. Continuing his work at Pittsburgh's Explosives Research Laboratory, one of his experiments set fire to the building.
"He was somebody who learned that wisdom comes from failure, and he was never afraid to fail. That was an important part of his character," Henry Posner III said. "He got as much value from his failures as from his successes."
He returned to Pittsburgh after World War II ended, and taught chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh during the day while earning his master's degree at night.
Mr. Posner met his wife, Helen, at the Oakland YMCA, which he joined for $15 in 1949 because a friend told him they could meet girls there. In an obituary he prepared, he described her as "the most beautiful girl (I) had ever met -- athletic, intelligent, good-natured and completely unpretentious." They married in 1953.
He donated millions of dollars to Carnegie Mellon University, Princeton University, UPMC Shadyside and the Rodef Shalom Congregation in Shadyside. The donations helped build Posner Hall and Posner Center at CMU, a reading room and track at Shady Side Academy and a child care center and playground at the Homewood-Brushton YMCA, among others.
Posner entrusted to CMU his father's rare book collection, which includes one of three privately held original copies of the Bill of Rights known to exist. He served on CMU's board of trustees and took a trip to Qatar with University President Jared Cohon when "he was a young 83 or so."
"We had some wonderful conversations," Cohon said. Despite the long trip to Qatar, "83-year-old Henry Posner did not miss a beat. He asked great questions. He contributed to the board's discussion (of whether to build a campus there). Henry was someone you always listened to carefully because he commanded a lot of respect."
In addition to his wife Helen and son Henry III, Mr. Posner is survived by sons James of Hawaii, Paul of San Antonio, Texas, and six grandchildren. Another son, Robert, preceded him in death.
Visitation is scheduled for Friday from noon to 2 p.m. in Rodef Shalom Congregation in Shadyside. Funeral services will begin at 2 p.m., followed by private burial in Homewood Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributing to Rodef Shalom Congregation, Carnegie Mellon University, Princeton University, The Children's Institute, UPMC Shadyside, Shady Side Academy or Winchester Thurston School.
