Ralph G. Anderson
Ralph G. Anderson (July 19, 1923 – February 13, 2010) was an American engineer, farmer, and entrepreneur who started Belcan, a large engineering services company. He was born in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
During World War II, Anderson served as a B-29 flight engineer in the United States Army Air Forces. He earned a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Kentucky in 1950. After college, he worked as an engineer for General Electric, General Motors, and the Kett Corporation. In October 1958, he founded Belcan, which grew to become a major engineering firm.
Anderson and his wife, Ruth M. Tucker, had one daughter, Candace McCaw, and three grandchildren. When he wasn’t at Belcan, he ran Anderson Circle Farm, an Angus cattle farm in Mercer County, Kentucky.
He was a strong supporter of engineering education. He funded the Ralph G. Anderson Mechanical Engineering Building at the University of Kentucky, supported the University of Kentucky Solar Car Team, and provided a scholarship for engineering students at the University of Cincinnati. He also contributed to his hometown of Harrodsburg, helping with state park development, historic building renovations, community projects, and mapping work at a Shaker village.
Ralph G. Anderson died in Cincinnati, Ohio, at age 86.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 19:11 (CET).