Ray Edwin Powell (December 7, 1887 – November 9, 1973) was the president of what became known as

Alcan Alcan was a Canadian mining company and aluminum manufacturer. It was founded in 1902 as the Northern Aluminum Company, renamed Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925, and Alcan Aluminum in 1966. It took the name Alcan Incorporated in 2001. During t ...

(the Aluminum Company of Canada), one of the largest aluminum companies in the world, overseeing an extraordinary expansion in the company's business. After his retirement from Alcan, he was named the 10th

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He served in the position from 1957 to 1964.

Life and career

Ray Edwin Powell was born in Table Grove,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

on December 7, 1887. He attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

for his

post-secondary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

, but dropped out before receiving his degree because of lack of financing. Powell was later awarded an Honorary Degree from this institution and several other universities. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Powell served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. After the war, he worked at

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...

, also known as the Aluminum Company of America. In 1928, Powell moved to Canada, becoming the vice president of what was later known as

, the Aluminum Company of Canada, a subsidiary of Alcoa. The non-US operations of Alcoa were spun off from their parent company due to anti-trust regulations and were collectively united under the new Canadian company headed by Powell. Alcan eventually became larger than Alcoa and was one of the largest companies in Canada. He later rose to become Alcan's President from 1937 to 1957. In the first seven years of his tenure, Alcan's assets increased 500%. While Powell was President, he oversaw the company's expansion from its business related to

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During the war, Powell used loans from the British, American, and Australian governments and tax arrangements with the government of Canada to expand Alcan's facilities along the

Saguenay River __NOTOC__ The Saguenay River () is a major river of Quebec, Canada. It drains Lac Saint-Jean in the Laurentian Highlands, leaving at Alma and running east; the city of Saguenay is located on the river. It drains into the Saint Lawrence River. T ...

. In the early 1950s, Alcan expanded once again by establishing a power development and smelter in

Kitimat Kitimat is a district municipality in the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of the Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine regional government. The Kitimat Valley is part of the most populous urban distr ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Powell helped make Alcan into an independent Canadian company, separating it from Alcoa.

Rio Tinto Rio Tinto, meaning "red river", may refer to: Businesses * Rio Tinto (corporation), an Anglo-Australian multinational mining and resources corporation ** Rio Tinto Alcan, based in Canada ** Rio Tinto Borax in America *** Rio Tinto Borax Mine, a ...

, one of the largest mineral companies in the world, purchased Alcan for US$38 Billion in 2007 and merged it with their own aluminum operations to form

Rio Tinto Alcan Rio Tinto Alcan is a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, based in Montreal. It was created on 15 November 2007 as the result of the merger between Rio Tinto's Canadian subsidiary and Canadian company Alcan. It is the global leader of aluminium mining and p ...

. The company is based in Montreal and is the largest aluminum company in the world. Queen Elizabeth was rumored to have considered Powell for knighthood until it was discovered that he had retained his US citizenship and not become a Canadian, despite living in Canada for the last 45 years of his life. This honor was to commemorate Powell for his efforts in supplying aluminum to the Allied effort during World War II and for being one of the greatest industrialists in Canadian history. After retiring from Alcan in 1957 at age 70, Powell became the 10th Chancellor of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and held this top position until 1964. He also served as the university's Governor from 1950 to 1966, when he became Emeritus Governor. He died in Montreal on November 9, 1973. He was survived by his wife, Cecile Smith Powell (1899-2000), four children (Robert, Mary, Cynthia and

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...

) and 16 grandchildren. He was predeceased by his brother, Ervin Powell. His daughter Mary is the wife of David M. Culver, who spent his career at Alcan, retiring as Chairman and CEO in 1989. Ray Powell's son Robert (born 1923) and daughter Cynthia (born in 1927) both died in 2006, while his other children Mary (born 1925) and Andrew (born 1930) both died in 2014. Powell's four children each had four children of their own, and the extended family is now spread throughout Canada, the US and Europe. Powell was often referred to as "Rip," which was a close acronym for his initials "REP." He served as a Director of several companies such as the Bank of Montreal. McGill created the Powell Student Services Building on the university campus in his honor. Alcan named one of its large vessels that transported bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum, the "SunRip" as a tribute to Powell. Mount Powell, a peak in British Columbia, was named in his honor after he developed the Kitimat smelter facility for Alcan in that province.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Ray Edwin 1887 births 1973 deaths American business executives Chancellors of McGill University American emigrants to Canada University of Illinois alumni