Malcolm Stamper (April 4, 1925 – June 14, 2005) was the longest serving president in

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

's history and was best known for leading 50,000 people in the race to build the 747 jetliner. Born and raised in

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 ...

, Stamper joined

in 1962 after working for

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 ...

. His first assignment at Boeing was to sell its ailing gas turbine division to

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

. Following this success, Boeing president

William M. Allen William McPherson Allen (September 1, 1900 – October 28, 1985) was an American businessman in the aviation industry who served as the President of Boeing from 1945 to 1968. Life and career Born in Lolo, Montana, he attended the University of M ...

asked Stamper to spearhead production of the new 747 airplane on which the company's future depended. This was a monumental engineering and management challenge, which involved the construction of the world's biggest factory in which to build the 747 at

Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

, a plant which spanned the size of roughly 53 acres. In 1978, Stamper was one of only a dozen U.S. corporate executives to earn over a million dollars. He served as president of the company and a member of the board of directors from 1972 until 1985, when he became vice chairman of the board. During the 1969-70 recession, Stamper presided over the layoff of nearly two-thirds of its 101,000 employees. By the late 1970s, however, the 747 was a huge success. By the time Stamper retired in 1990, Boeing seemed to face no serious threat from

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...

or from European competitor

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...

. He predicted that the company would remain the leader in the field for the foreseeable future. Stamper also served on boards at Nordstrom, Chrysler, Whittaker Corporation, Travelers Insurance,

Pro Air Pro Air was a United States airline founded by Kevin Stamper in July 1997 to serve the centrally located Detroit City Airport in Detroit, Michigan. Its headquarters were in the Lower Queen Anne area of Seattle, Washington. Code data *IATA Code ...

, the

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM) in Volunteer Park on Cap ...

and the Smithsonian Institution. After retiring from Boeing, he started a children's book publishing company. Stamper was the grandfather of

Jay Stamper Jeremy "Jay" Stamper (born June 14, 1972) is an American entrepreneur, nonprofit leader and politician from South Carolina. Stamper first gained national media attention for pranks targeting incumbent politicians and has since founded several int ...

, an entrepreneur and unsuccessful nominee for the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

in the 2014 South Carolina Democratic Party primary.

References

Boeing people Georgia Tech alumni 1925 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople {{aviation-bio-stub