Industrial Executive – Manufacturer

“Lawyer Turned Industrialist” – that’s the way a Pittsburg newspaper headline described you in a series of articles on the city’s leaders of business, culture, growth and men. From an early age, law had been your career goal. And it was while you were a legal counsel that the turning point in your life occurred, for your settlement of a farm equipment workers’ strike in 1935 started you up the management ladder of success to become a giant of industry and chairman of the board of a company with business exceeding $300 million annually. Your success in resolving the strike at an Oliver Corporation plant landed you a position as head of the Chicago firm’s industrial relations department, and fifteen years later, you became its president. In 1936, Westinghouse Air Brake Company tapped you for its presidency at a time it was expanding into other fields. As chief executive officer, you were responsible for welding newly acquired divisions into the parent company and leveling out changes brought by the acquisitions. A decade later, you became board chairman. Your extensive industrial background made you a prime selection for the Industry Advisory committees of the War Production Board and the Office of Price Administration during World War II, as Director of the Agriculture Division, National Production Authority, in 1951 and more recently for the Governor’s Committee for Transportation and the National Industrial Conference Board. You have welcomed civic duties, giving time to hospital planning, the United Way, and university foundations. It is with great pleasure that your Alma Mater recognizes your many talents and great contributions to our society by awarding you its Distinguished Service Citation.