Conrad " Connie" L. Wirth (1899-1993) received the Pugsley Gold Medal in 1947 and in 1963. He was described as " A man of action with boundless enthusiam..the outstanding executive, thinker and leader in the field today. He was born in Hartfored, Connecticut in 1899 to Theodore ( Pugsley Medal 1930) and Leonie Mese Wirth. Conrad earned a bachelor of science degree in landscape gardening from Massachusetts Agricultural College ( now the University of Massachusetts). After graduation Wirth went into private practice in New Orleans and subsequently in San Francisco, but then the Depression occured and private sector jobs dissappeared. In 1931, Horace Albright brought him into the National Park Service (NPS) as assistant director for land planning. In 1933, Wirth was given supervisory responsibility for all state and county park activities of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
During 1936-1942, 18 states were aided inrewriting their general conservation laws. By July, 1942 more than 561 non federal park areas throughout the country were improved by all manner of CCC construction and landscaping projects necessary to develop them or make their recreational resources and scenic beauty available for public use and enjoyment. His remarkable contributions in this role, however were a prelude to the profound impact he had on the NPS when subsequently serving as the agency's director from 1951 to 1964. in 1951, NPS Director Arthur E. Demaray named Wirth an associate director. Under Wirth's direction, Mission 66 built more than 130 new visitor centers, 2000 new homes for employees and training centers at Grand Canyon and Harpers Ferry. In 1951,the parks hosted 37 million visitors. By 1956, when mission 66 began, visitation had exploded to more than 60 million and park planners projected a 25 percent increase to 80 million by 1966.