A World War II refugee, Werner Michael Blumenthal (born 1926) used his academic and business skills to reach the highest levels of American government, industry, and banking.

W. Michael Blumenthal, one of two children of Ewald and Rose Valerie Market Blumenthal, was born on January 3, 1926, in Oranienburg, Germany, a Berlin suburb. His father owned a women's clothing store that was confiscated by the Nazis in 1938. After selling all their possessions to secure Ewald's release from a concentration camp, the Blumenthals fled Germany for Shanghai, where they joined many other German Jewish refugees.

Michael and his family survived harsh wartime conditions, including internment by the Japanese. He learned several languages, attended school, and worked in a warehouse in Shanghai. He and his sister arrived as refugees in San Francisco in 1947. Blumenthal worked part-time while attending college. In 1951 he received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at...