(1907–97), U.S. public official, born in Washington, D.C.; secretary of housing and urban development (1966–69) under President Lyndon Johnson, he was the first black American to head a federal department; B.A. 1929, M.A. 1931, Ph.D. 1934, all from Harvard University; adviser on black affairs for President F.D. Roosevelt 1933–37; administrative assistant, U.S. Housing Authority 1937–40; War Production Board 1940–42; taught at Columbia Teacher's College and New York University School of Education 1947–49; N.Y. State rent administrator 1955–59; Housing and Home Finance Agency 1961–66; president, Bernard M. Baruch College 1969–70; professor, Hunter College 1970–78; various committees on New York City and State housing, transportation, and rent issues 1974–84; consultant to Government Accounting Office since 1974; won 1962 Spingarn Medal; author of ‘Urban Complex', ‘Dilemmas of Urban America' ,