William Signius Knudsen (March 25, 1879 – April 27, 1948) was a leading Danish-American automotive industry executive and an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

general during World War II. His experience and success as a key

senior manager Senior management, executive management, upper management, or a management is generally individuals at the highest level of management of an organization who have the day-to-day tasks of managing that organization—sometimes a company or a corpo ...

in the

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sides of Ford Motor Company and then

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led the

Franklin Roosevelt administration Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

to commission him directly as a lieutenant general in the US Army to help lead the United States' war materiel production efforts for World War II.

Background

Knudsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His name was originally Signius Wilhelm Poul Knudsen. He immigrated to the United States and arrived in New York in February 1900.

Career

Knudsen was working for the John R. Keim Company of Buffalo, New York, a bicycle and auto parts maker, when the Ford Motor Company bought it in 1911 for its steel-stamping experience and tooling. Knudsen worked for Ford from 1911 to 1921, a decade that saw the formative development of the modern assembly line and true

mass production 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 batch ...

. Working first for the Ford Motor Company and later for

from 1921, Knudsen became an expert on mass production and a skilled manager. Knudsen was president of the

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

Division of

from 1924. to 1937 and was president of General Motors from 1937 to 1940. In 1940, US President

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, at the recommendation of

Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in ...

, asked Knudsen to come to Washington to help with war production. Knudsen was appointed as Chairman of the Office of Production Management and member of the

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for which he received a salary of $1 per year. In January 1942, Knudsen received a commission as a lieutenant general in the US Army, the only civilian ever to join the army at such a high initial rank,. and appointed as Director of Production, Office of the Under Secretary of War. In that capacity, he worked as a consultant and a troubleshooter for the War Department. In both positions, Knudsen used his extensive experience in manufacturing and industry respect to facilitate the largest production job in history. In response to the demand for war materiel, production of machine tools tripled. The total aircraft produced for the US military in 1939 was less than 3,000 planes. By the end of the war, America produced over 300,000 planes of which the

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

benefitted greatly from Knudsen's direction. Production of both cargo and Navy ships also increased astronomically. Knudsen's influence not only smoothed government procurement procedures but also led companies that had never produced military hardware to enter the market. America outproduced its enemies. As Knudsen said, "We won because we smothered the enemy in an avalanche of production, the like of which he had never seen, nor dreamed possible." He was appointed Director of the

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when it was founded in July 1944 at Patterson Field, Ohio. He served in the Army until his resignation on June 1, 1945.

Personal life

Knudsen was featured on the cover of ''Time'' magazine's October 7, 1940 issue. He was a member of Epiphany Lutheran Church (

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...

) in Detroit and contributed greatly to the synod's projects around the Detroit area, including buildings for Epiphany Lutheran Church, Outer Drive Faith Lutheran Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Institute for the Deaf. Knudsen's son

Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen Semon Emil "Bunkie" Knudsen (October 2, 1912 – July 6, 1998) was an American automobile executive. Early life Semon Emil Knudsen was born on October 2, 1912 in Buffalo, New York. He was the son of former General Motors President, and Army thr ...

was also a prominent automobile industry executive.

Honors and awards

Knudsen was awarded the Vermilye Medal by the Franklin Institute in 1941. He was also appointed a Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

by the Kingdom of Denmark in 1930 and was promoted Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1946. Knudsen was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1968. His daughter started a scholarship in the name of her parents.3. The William S. Knudsen and Clara Elisabeth Knudsen Rebild Fund
/ref> Knudsen was awarded the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

in 1944 and again in 1945 for his service in the US Army during World War II. He also received the American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal for his wartime service.

Dates of rank

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knudsen, William S. 1879 births 1948 deaths Businesspeople from Copenhagen Businesspeople from Detroit Military personnel from Detroit American businesspeople People in the automobile industry Ford executives General Motors former executives United States Army generals Danish emigrants to the United States Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)