Robert Hugh Daniel

Robert Hugh Daniel (September 1, 1906 - October 27, 1983) was the chairman and chief executive officer of Daniel International Corporation which he founded, along with his brother, in 1934. Daniel International, headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, and Birmingham, Alabama, grew to become one of the largest construction and engineering firms in the world. In 1977 Daniel International was acquired by Fluor Corporation. He was also the founder of the Daniel Foundation of Alabama, which is one of the largest charitable foundations in Alabama. Daniel and his wife lived in Mountain Brook, Alabama. Hugh died on October 27, 1983, in Birmingham.

Personal life R. Hugh Daniel attended The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in Charleston in the class of 1929, there he played on the varsity football and basketball team and was also the editor of the college newspaper, The Bulldog. After college, he was a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy. After his duties were finished in the Navy, he then became very successful in the construction business in Alabama and was also widely recognized for his philanthropic endeavors. He died on October 27, 1983. The company, as founded by Daniel and now as part of Fluor, specializes in large scale construction, real estate, and industrial contracting. The business grew to over 40,000 employees and produced over $950 million in revenue in 1975, two years before it was acquired by the Fluor Corporation in 1977. Daniel was also the chairman of the board of directors for the Central Bank of Birmingham, now BBVA Compass. and served on the board of the bank's parent corporation Central Bancshares, Inc., served as a director for the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Baptist Hospitals Foundation, as well as several companies. The Daniel Library located at the Citadel was dedicated to the Daniel brothers in 1960 for their various contributions to the institution. The brothers also erected a carillion, completed in 1984 shortly after Daniel's death in honor of Thomas Dry Howie, a classmate at the Citadel. R. Hugh Daniel also donated the Daniel building in Greenville to the Citadel. In 1980, the 25 story structure was the largest gift any college in the nation had ever received at the time. In 2010, the Daniel Foundation provided $1.5 million for a major renovation of Daniel Library, with a new entry, group study spaces, and technology.