Mellon Institute

Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, founded in 1913 by Andrew W. Mellon and Richard B. Mellon, merged with the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1967 to form Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. While it ceased to exist as a distinct institution, the landmark building bearing its name remains located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Bellefield Avenue in Oakland, the city's university district. It is sited adjacent to The Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and the University of Pittsburgh's Bellefield Hall and is across Bellefield Avenue from two other local landmarks: the University of Pittsburgh's Heinz Memorial Chapel and the Cathedral of Learning. Designed by architect Benno Janssen (1874–1964), it is noted for its neo-classical architecture and elegant construction, with its signature monolithic limestone columns (the largest monolithic columns in the world) . Andrew Mellon, who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury, specified to Janssen a building with a monumental ionic colonnade similar to the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C.. The proportions of Mellon Institute's street facades are nearly those of the long lateral facade of the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Mellon Institute was completed and dedicated posthumously to the Mellon brothers in May 1937. Mellon Institute currently houses the Office of the Dean for Carnegie Mellon University's Mellon College of Science, as well as the administrative offices and research laboratories for the Department of Biological Sciences and Department of Chemistry. From 1986 until 2006, it also housed the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center.