Sanford "Sandy" Noyes McDonnell (October 12, 1922 – March 19, 2012) was an American engineer, businessman and philanthropist. Former

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

McDonnell Douglas Corporation 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 ...

, he also served as national president of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

and as chairman of

Character Education Partnership Character.org is a nonprofit organization that encourages people of all ages to practice good ethical values. Formerly known as the Character Education Partnership, it was founded in 1993. Today, Character.org creates and shares resources that s ...

. He was "Man of the Year" in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

in 1984.

Career

A native of

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

, McDonnell attended

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

and

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, achieving bachelor's degrees in economics (1945) and mechanical engineering (1948) and a master's degree in applied mechanics (1954). In 1948, he joined McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, a company founded by his uncle, James S. McDonnell, as a stress engineer. He participated in the development of the

F-101 Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as a long-range bomber escort (known as a ''p ...

and the

F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

jet fighters. In 1962 he was named vice president-general manager of all combat aircraft, and he became the president of the company, by then McDonnell Douglas, in 1971. The following year, he became chief executive officer. In 1980, James S. McDonnell died, and McDonnell succeeded him as chairman of the board, a role he retained until 1988. He has also been chairman of the board of governors of the

Aerospace Industries Association The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) is an American trade association representing manufacturers and suppliers of civil, military, and business aircraft, helicopters, UAVs, space systems, aircraft engines, missiles, material, and related c ...

. Arkansas Aviation Historical Society inducted McDonnell into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame in 1989.

Philanthropy

During his service with McDonnell Douglas, McDonnell had a strong interest in ethics. As a child, he had been a Boy Scout, rising to the rank of

Star Scout The advancement program for Scouts participating in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America is symbolized by the earning of seven ranks. The advancement program is often considered to be divided into two phases. The first phase from jo ...

. During his term with McDonnell Douglas, he used the

Scout Promise The Scout Promise (or Oath) is a spoken statement made by a child joining the Scout movement. Since the publication of '' Scouting for Boys'' in 1908, all Scouts and Girl Guides around the world have taken a Scout (or Guide) promise or oath to liv ...

as the basis for a work Code of Ethics. Following his retirement, McDonnell turned his focus to education and the need of focusing on character in

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

s. After establishing a program in St. Louis public schools (the Personal Responsibility Education Process), he became founding chair of the national Character Education Partnership in 1993, a position he held until 2005. McDonnell worked to translate the character education programs of the Boy Scouts to higher education through service academies. "The military academies are far ahead of almost all of the other universities in the emphasis they place on character building," he once said. "I hope universities all across the nation will emulate their programs for character development." He pledged $5 million to the

U.S. Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Unit ...

in 2011 for a Center for Character and Leadership Development. McDonnell also served in other areas. In 1987, he became the first president of the Foundation for the

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recognizes U.S. organizations in the business, health care, education, and nonprofit sectors for performance excellence. The Baldrige Award is the highest formal recognition of the performance excellen ...

, a foundation that supports the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program in recognizing U.S. organizations that "have a role-model organizational management system that ensures continuous improvement in the delivery of products and/or services, demonstrates efficient and effective operations, and provides a way of engaging and responding to customers and other stakeholders."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, Sanford N. 1922 births 2012 deaths American chief executives of manufacturing companies Businesspeople in aviation Little Rock Central High School alumni McDonnell Douglas Businesspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas Princeton University alumni University of Colorado alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Presidents of the Boy Scouts of America McKelvey School of Engineering alumni

Career

Philanthropy

See also

References