Bill died Oct. 6, 2011, in Pittsburgh from complications of gall bladder cancer.

Bill was born May 13, 1938, in Conneaut Lake, Pa. At Princeton, he was a member of Elm Club and majored in history. He enjoyed a lifelong friendship with his freshman-year roommates, Peter Graff, Mark Carliner, and Dick Biggs.

After graduation, Bill enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve and then joined his father’s small steel warehousing and distribution firm. He eventually expanded the company into the largest manufacturer of steel studs in the country. In 1996, Bill sold Dietrich Industries and established charities that made donations of $265 million to Carnegie Mellon University and $125 million to the University of Pittsburgh, both among the largest ever by an individual to higher education in the United States.

In 1984, Bill earned a Ph.D. in politics from the University of Pittsburgh, and later he published two books, In the Shadow of the Rising Sun: The Political Roots of American  Economic Decline and Eminent Pittsburghers, based on articles he wrote for Pittsburgh Quarterly magazine.

Bill served as board chair or trustee at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, and Pittsburgh’s Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scouts, Carnegie Museums, Symphony Society, and Ballet Theatre.

His daughter, Anne Elizabeth Diemer, and nephew Kenneth Cascarella survive Bill. The class extends deep sympathy to them.

Undergraduate Class of 1960