David E. "Ned" Skinner II (1920-1988) was a shipping heir and philanthropist in Seattle. He was the grandson of David E. Skinner (1867-1933) of the Skinner & Eddy shipyard, the Pacific Steamship Co., and the Port Blakely Mill. Skinner was born in Seattle, attended the Lakeside School, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1942. During World War, Skinner served in the US Navy aboard a destroyer in the Pacific.

After the death of his father G. W. Skinner in 1953, Skinner took over the Alaska Steamship Company. When the company closed in 1971, Ned Skinner, as head of the Skinner Corporation, branched into real estate (the Skinner Building and 5th Avenue Theatre); Pepsi-Cola Bottling; and NC Machinery tractor sales. By the time of Skinner’s death in 1988, the Skinner Corporation was the 10th largest privately held company in the US. Skinner was also active on the boards of the Boeing Company, Safeco, Pacific Northwest Bell, and Pacific National Bank.

Ned Skinner was a leader in the development of the Century 21 Exposition (World's Fair) in 1962, as a major fundraiser and one of the original investors in construction of Space Needle. In 1972, he was one of the original investors to support and organize funding for a professional football team in Seattle; the Seahawks played their first game in 1976.

The Skinner Corporation donated more than 5 percent of its earnings back to the community through the Skinner Foundation, founded by Ned Skinner in 1956. Skinner's community service extended to the Corporate Council for the Arts, the Museum of Flight, the Pacific Science Center, the Seattle Art Museum, Children's Hospital, PONCHO, the 5th Avenue Theatre Association, the University of Washington, and the Seattle Foundation. The Seattle-King County Association of Realtors named Ned Skinner and his wife Katherine "Kayla" Skinner First Citizens of 1974 for their many civic and philanthropic contributions.

This is five-part interview with David E. “Ned” Skinner was conducted by Donald A. Schmechel on August 12, 1985. This interview is part of the Donald Schmechel Oral History Collection. Don Schmechel, who was a member of the Seattle Public Library Foundation board, began this project with Seattle Public Library in 1984, with the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) brought on board as a partner in early 1985. Schmechel himself worked to raise the funding for the project, and volunteered his time to manage the project, and to conduct interviews along with a crew of volunteers. Originally titled the Videotaping Historic Figures (VHF) Program, the project interviewed 91 people, and MOHAI holds the interviews for 32 of these individuals.