Alfred E. Hunt

Alfred E. Hunt was a Pittsburgh metallurgist with a sharp eye for the next big thing. In the 1880s, aluminum was a precious metal, more costly than silver, used mostly for jewelry. Hunt, working at the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory, saw past its novelty to its future: a material that was light, strong, and could transform manufacturing. In 1888, he gathered a small group of investors, including a young chemist named Charles Martin Hall, who had just cracked the code for cheap aluminum production. Together, they formed the Pittsburgh Reduction Company. Hunt's business acumen and Hall's process were a perfect match. As the first president, he steered the fledgling firm through its risky early years, securing capital and navigating fierce patent battles. Though he died suddenly at 44, the enterprise he launched grew into the aluminum giant Alcoa, fundamentally reshaping industries from transportation to packaging.