David Eli Lilienthal (1899-1981), American public administrator, was director of the Tennessee Valley Authority in its formative period and then became the first chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Steven Neuse in David E. Lilienthal, described him as, "one of the century's most noteworthy public figures."

David E. Lilienthal was born in Morton, Indiana, on July 8, 1899. His parents, Leo and Minnie (Rosenak) Lilienthal were Czechoslovakian immigrants. His father, a storekeeper, moved his family from town to town across the Midwest. Lilienthal graduated from high school in Michigan City, Indiana. He received his bachelor's degree in 1920 from De Pauw University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Not only an intellectual, he also obtained a reputation as a light-heavyweight boxer. Three years later, Lilienthal earned a law degree from Harvard Law School and married Helen Marian Lamb. They later became the parents of a daughter, Nancy Alice, and...