William E. Anderson
An early GCF report called William E. Anderson the "leader and guiding spirit" of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation. This transplanted Cincinnatian indeed played a major role in gathering support for a community foundation and getting the right people together to make it happen.
Andy, as he was known to his friends, brought the community foundation idea with him from Cleveland, where he had been an attorney and bank trust officer before joining Cincinnati’s Central Trust Company (now PNC Bank) in 1935. By the late 1950’s, he was senior vice president and trust officer there, and spreading the word about the benefits a community foundation could bring to Greater Cincinnati.