Stephen Tyng Mather was an American industrialist and conservationist who was the first director of the National Park Service. As president and owner of Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company he became a millionaire. With his friend the journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather led a publicity campaign to promote the creation of a unified federal agency to oversee National Parks administration, which was established in 1916. In 1917, Mather was appointed to lead the NPS, the new agency created within the Department of the Interior. He served until 1929, during which time Mather created a professional civil service organization, increased the numbers of parks and national monuments, and established systematic criteria for adding new properties to the federal system.
Stephen Mather
Mather Memorial Plaque at Zion National Park – "He laid the foundation of the National Park Service, defining and establishing the policies under which its areas shall be developed and conserved unimpaired for future generations. There will never come an end to the good that he has done." (Other plaques located at many NPS sites.)
Director of the National Park Service
The Director of the National Park Service of the United States is nominated by the President and requires a Senate confirmation. The incumbent is Charles F. Sams III, who was sworn in by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on December 16, 2021.
Director of the National Park Service
Image: Dir 14 Kennedy
Image: Fran P Mainella
Image: Mary Bomar
