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Robert Moses (1888-1981) was a public official whose vision played a major role in shaping the physical development of the New York Metropolitan area. Moses was born on December 18, 1888 and raised in New Haven, Connecticut and on East 46th Street in Manhattan. He graduated from Yale University in 1909, and went on to receive a Ph. D. in political science from Columbia University in 1914. He began his career with the Municipal Research Bureau in 1913. By 1922 he had become involved in the areas to which he devoted most of his career: parks, construction and highways. Moses was married twice, and had two daughters. He died on July 29, 1981.

Moses was principally responsible for the construction of an enormous number of major public projects in the state and city of New York, including the Triborough Bridge, Queens Midtown Tunnel, Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, the Henry Hudson Bridge, the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, the Throg Neck's Bridge, and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, as well as Jones Beach State Park, the Robert Moses State Parks, and the Robert Moses Power Plant on the Saint Lawrence River and Robert Moses Power Dam on the Niagara River. Moses was also responsible for the construction of much public housing in New York City.

During his long career, his offices included the following: President, Long Island State Park Commission, 1924-1963; chairman, New York State Council of Parks, 1924-1963; Secretary of State, New York State, 1927-1928; president, Jones Beach Parkway Authority, 1933-1963; president, Bethpage State Park Authority, 1933-1963; chairman, Emergency Public Works Commission, 1933-1934; commissioner, New York City Department of Parks, 1934-1960; chairman, member, and consultant, Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, 1934-1981; New York City Construction Co-ordinator, 1942-1960; New York City Planning Commissioner, 1946-1960; chairman, New York State Power Authority, 1954-1962; president, New York World's Fair, 1960-1966; special advisor to the Governor of the State of New York on Housing, 1974-1975.