George Walter Mason (March 12, 1891 – October 8, 1954) was an American industrialist. During his career Mason served as the Chairman and CEO of the Kelvinator Corporation (1928-1937), Chairman and CEO of the

Nash-Kelvinator Corporation Nash-Kelvinator Corporation was the result of a merger in 1937 between Nash Motors and Kelvinator Appliance Company. The union of these two companies was brought about as a result of a condition made by George W. Mason prior to his appointment as ...

(1937-1954), and Chairman and CEO of

American Motors Corporation American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was the ...

(1954).

Early life and education

Mason was born in

Valley City, North Dakota Valley City is a city in Barnes County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Barnes County. The population was 6,575 during the 2020 census, making it the 12th largest city in North Dakota. Valley City was founded in 1874. Val ...

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

parents. Mason received his education at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

where he designed a specific course for engineering students that combined three years of engineering and a final year in business administration. Mason had worked for local garages in his youth and upon receiving his degree from Michigan, he accepted a position with

Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...

. Mason changed employers several times before entering military service during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. In 1921, Mason secured a position with

Walter P. Chrysler Walter Percy Chrysler (April 2, 1875 – August 18, 1940) was an American industrial pioneer in the automotive industry, American automotive industry executive and the founder and namesake of American Chrysler Corporation. Early life Chrysler w ...

at Maxwell-Chalmers, which Chrysler had reorganized and would use to develop

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

brand automobiles. From Maxwell-Chalmers, Mason went to Copeland Products of Detroit in 1926 before becoming the President of the Kelvinator Corporation, a leader in the emerging electric refrigeration industry. Under Mason, Kelvinator quadrupled its profits and became second only to

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

Frigidaire Frigidaire Appliance Company is the American consumer and commercial home appliances brand subsidiary of multinational company Electrolux. Frigidaire was founded as the Guardian Frigerator Company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and developed the first s ...

product line in home refrigeration sales despite the effects of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Career

Nash Motors

When

Charles W. Nash Charles Williams Nash (January 28, 1864 – June 6, 1948) was an American automobile entrepreneur who served as an executive in the automotive industry. He played a major role in building up General Motors as its 5th President. In 1916, he bou ...

, founder of

Nash Motors Nash Motors Company was an American automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin from 1916 to 1937. From 1937 to 1954, Nash Motors was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation. Nash production continued from 1954 to 1 ...

began looking for his successor, he turned to Mason upon the recommendation of Walter Chrysler. Mason initially rebuffed Nash’s offer; however when Nash asked what it would take to bring Mason over to Nash, Mason stated that he would not take the position if Kelvinator was not included in the deal. Nash saw merit in this idea; General Motors owned Frigidaire,

Borg-Warner BorgWarner Inc. is an American automotive supplier headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The company maintains production facilities and technical systems at 93 sites (as of June 6, 2022) in 22 countries worldwide and has around 49,000 employ ...

owned Norge Appliance, and

operated its own

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

division, Airtemp. Nash and Mason came to terms and the deal announced in November 1936. The two firms merged to form

with Mason as its CEO. By 1940, Mason continued to grow Kelvinator’s market share and returned Nash to profitable status. Continuing Charles Nash's decades of success by building cars "embodying honest worth ... ta price level which held out possibilities of a very wide market." Mason began exploring the possibilities of

aerodynamics Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dy ...

for automobile designs and used of

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

tests during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Nash’s Chief of engineering, Nils Erik Wahlberg, worked with Theodore (Ted) Ulrich in the development of Nash's all-new and radically styled 1949 Airflyte models. This was a comprehensive adoption of aerodynamic principles in a low-priced

mass-produced Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and ba ...

post-war automobile. The Airflyte's design also extended its body over car's front wheels, and these enshrouded front wheels remained a Nash hallmark until 1957. Mason was a large and gregarious man, standing well more than six feet (183 cm) tall and weighing over . Despite his large physical size, he was fascinated with small cars, especially the concept of a small, inexpensive car and Nash’s marketing and

strategic management In the field of management, strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by an organization's managers on behalf of stakeholders, based on consideration of resources and an assessme ...

. As a result, the automaker introduced three

compact car Compact car is a vehicle size class — predominantly used in North America — that sits between subcompact cars and mid-size cars. "Small family car" is a British term and a part of the C-segment in the European car classification. However ...

lines: *

Nash Rambler The Nash Rambler is a North American automobile that was produced by the Nash Motors division of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation from 1950 to 1954 in sedan, wagon, and fixed-profile convertible body styles. On 1 May 1954, Nash-Kelvinator merge ...

– Mason’s vision for a small inexpensive compact car was changed in light of raw goods shortages, so Mason directed the car to emerge not as a stripped down economy car, but as an upmarket compact sedan-convertible. *

Nash-Healey The Nash-Healey is a three-seat luxury sports car or grand tourer produced from 1951 to 1954. It was marketed by the Nash-Kelvinator conglomerate in North America as a halo car to promote sales of its Nash Motors division. The car was the resul ...

– the first American sports car after the

and developed with partners in Great Britain and Italy. *

Nash Metropolitan The Nash Metropolitan is an American automobile that was assembled in England and marketed from 1953 until 1961. It conforms to two classes of vehicle: economy car and subcompact car. In today's US terminology the Metropolitan is a “subcompac ...

– a subcompact car built in cooperation with

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

's Austin Motors. However, General Motors and

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

were locked in a battle for market supremacy that started in 1945 when Ford's new president,

Henry Ford II Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), sometimes known as "Hank the Deuce", was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford I. He was president ...

, had a burning desire to make his company number one again. By 1953, all of the independent automobile manufacturers were also feeling the after effects of Henry Ford’s plan to dump tens of thousands of vehicles into the market at discounted prices to try and wrestle the top automotive manufacturing title from GM. General Motors responded by doing the same. With the market flooded by inexpensive cars,

Packard Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Th ...

Willys Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MBs ...

, Hudson,

Kaiser Motors Kaiser Motors (formerly Kaiser-Frazer) Corporation made automobiles at Willow Run, Michigan, United States, from 1945 to 1953. In 1953, Kaiser merged with Willys-Overland to form Willys Motors Incorporated, moving its production operation ...

, and Nash were all unable to sell their vehicles at

loss leader A loss leader (also leader) is a pricing strategy where a product is sold at a price below its market cost to stimulate other sales of more profitable goods or services. With this sales promotion/marketing strategy, a "leader" is any popular arti ...

prices to keep up with Ford and GM. The "frantic 1953–54 Ford/GM price war" devastated the remaining "independent" automakers.

Legacy with AMC

The smaller automakers responded to their shrinking market shares by conducting formal and informal merger talks. Willys and Kaiser merged in 1953. Mason brought together Nash and the

Hudson Motor Car Company The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other branded automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., from 1909 until 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator to form American Motors Corporation (AMC). The Hudson name was continued through ...

to cut costs and strengthen their sales organizations to meet the intense competition from the Big Three. This merger occurred on May 1, 1954 to form

(AMC). At the same time, he tried to bring Studebaker and Packard into AMC. He had informal discussions with James J. Nance of Packard to outline his

strategic vision Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to attain strategic goals. Furthermore, it may also extend to control mechanisms for guiding the implementat ...

for competing with the Big Three. An agreement was reached for parts-sharing arrangements between AMC and Packard and the new Packard V8 engine and Packard's Ultramatic automatic transmission would be used in the 1955

Nash Ambassador The Nash Ambassador is a luxury automobile that was produced by Nash Motors from 1927 until 1957. For the first five years it was a top trim level, then from 1932 on a standalone model. Ambassadors were lavishly equipped and beautifully construc ...

and Hudson Hornet models. In July 1954, Packard acquired Studebaker. Within months after the formation of AMC, George Mason died on October 8, 1954, at age 63 of acute

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic p ...

and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

and was buried in

White Chapel Memorial Cemetery White Chapel Memorial Cemetery or simply White Chapel Cemetery is a memorial cemetery at 621 West Long Lake Road in Troy, Oakland County, Michigan. In the 1920s, a group of investors led by Clarence J. Sanger had a new vision for a cemetery and p ...

. Mason's

protégé Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

, AMC Vice President

George W. Romney George Wilcken Romney (July 8, 1907 – July 26, 1995) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman and president of American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1962, the 43rd gover ...

, succeeded Mason as Chairman and CEO. One of Romney's first acts was to stop rumors that there were additional merger talks between AMC and Studebaker-Packard Corporation or any automakers. According to Mason's obituary in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' magazine, had AMC and Studebaker-Packard joined, it would have resulted in the second largest automaker in the world, behind General Motors.

Legacy in conservation

Following his death it was disclosed that Mason, a former president of

Ducks Unlimited Ducks Unlimited (DU) is an American nonprofit organization 501(c) dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife, and people. It has had a membership of around 700,000 since January 2013. ...

, had left a gift to the

Michigan Department of Natural Resources The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appointed by the Governor a ...

consisting of land with of shoreline along the Au Sable River. The gift was contingent that the area be used as a permanent game preserve, that no part shall ever be sold by the state, and that no camping be allowed in the area for 25 years. The Michigan DNR has continued to uphold the no camping restriction within the Mason tract. In accordance with Mason's wishes, the tract remains free of all development with the exception of a simple log

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

that was constructed on the property by the Mason family in 1960.

Notes

References

* ''Who Was Who in America. A component of Who's Who in American History.'' Volume 3, 1951-1960. Chicago * Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 1980- 2006 * George Mason, ''Newsweek'' October 18, 1954 * Changes of the Week: George Romney Succeeds Mason. ''Time Magazine'', October 25, 1954 * George W. Mason, ''American National Biography Online'', February 2000 edition {{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, George W. 1891 births 1954 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople Deaths from pancreatitis Nash Motors people American Motors people American chief executives in the automobile industry American founders of automobile manufacturers University of Michigan alumni Automotive businesspeople People from Valley City, North Dakota