Bruce Charles Savage was the United States Public Housing Authority Commissioner under President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

, serving from 1960 to 1961. A moderate-progressive Rockefeller Republican

Rockefeller Republican

Rockefeller Republican refers to a faction of the United States Republican Party who held moderate to liberal views similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller...

, he sought to expand the services of national public housing

Public housing

Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...

 at a time when public housing was limited in most areas and discouraged by many in both political parties. He was largely seen as a hands-on commissioner whose appointment was considered by others as an indication that Eisenhower was becoming serious about expanding public housing. The US Public Housing Authority was later expanded under Presidents Kennedy

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....

 and Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...

 and became the present-day Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Savage was born in Indianapolis

Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 and attended Indiana

Indiana University Bloomington

Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...

, Northwestern

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

, and Butler

Butler University

Butler University is a private university located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university offers 60 degree programs to 4,400 students through six colleges: business, communication, education, liberal Arts and sciences, pharmacy and health...

 universities. In 1944, he founded the Bruce Savage Company (later Savage/Landrigan), a residential real estate

Real estate

In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

 company that was the largest such firm in Indiana until the late 1960s. The firm closed in 1984, following the death of his successor.

Savage was keenly aware of the needs of elderly housing and served on several related national, state, and local governmental and private groups. In addition, he served as the president of the Indianapolis Board of Realtors (1950), the Greater Indianapolis Progress Commission (GIPC). He was a member of various Indianapolis clubs such as Columbia Club

Columbia Club

The Columbia Club is a private hotel and clubhouse located on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The current structure was built in 1925 as the third home to a private club of the same name.-Club history:...

, Kiwanis

Kiwanis

Kiwanis International is an international, coeducational service club founded in 1915. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Current membership is 240,000 members in 7,700 clubs in 80 nations...

, Meridian Hills Country Club, and Beta Theta Pi

Beta Theta Pi

Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...

. He was married to Marabeth Thomas Savage and was the father of Lynne Penelope Savage Landrigan and Sarah Anne Savage.