PittsburghLIVE.com
George Tippins had the focus and foresight to transform his family’s machinery business and, later, the steel industry.
The former Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp. board chairman, inventor and independent businessman died Saturday at the Presbyterian Senior Care in Oakmont after long illnesses with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. He was 79.
‘George Tippins was a significant force in the steel industry both in Western Pennsylvania and around the world,’ said Charles Queenan Jr., senior counsel of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart law firm, a longtime friend who served on the board of Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp. with Mr. Tippins. ‘He was very unique in developing steckle mills and rolling mills that were ahead of their times.’
Mr. Tippins was board chairman and majority owner of Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp. from 1980 through 1986. Describing him as ‘supremely focused,’ Queenan said Mr. Tippins invested in the steel company ‘at the right time to make sure that it survived for Western Pennsylvania.’