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 Montana, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He graduated in 1925 from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, and joined the Board of

Boeing Air Transport United Airlines is the third largest airline in the world, with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Airlines Holdings) and 721 aircraft. It was the brainchild of William Boeing and emerged from his consolidation of nu ...

in 1930 while remaining an employee of his Seattle law firm, Donworth, Todd & Higgins. A year later he joined the Board of Boeing Airplane Company as corporate counsel. Following the death of Boeing president Philip G. Johnson in 1944, Chairman

Claire Egtvedt Clairmont L. "Claire" Egtvedt (October 18, 1892 – October 19, 1975) was an airplane designer and president and chairman of the Boeing Company. Along with Ed Wells, he is considered to be the father of the Boeing B-17 bomber. Egtvedt was chie ...

was tasked with appointing his replacement. Feeling that none of the company's senior engineers had a sufficiently broad background to run the company, he turned to Bill Allen. Considering himself unqualified to run an engineering company, Allen at first declined the offer before finally accepting. Allen served as the president of the Boeing Company from September 1, 1945, until April 29, 1968. He also served as the chairman of the Boeing Company from 1968 through 1972. While he was president of Boeing, he made the famous decision in 1952 to "bet the company", when he authorized construction of the Boeing 367-80 and again when he authorized the launch of development of the

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

. He also participated in launching other planes of renown, among them the Boeing 727, Boeing 737, and

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

. In 1966, Allen asked

Malcolm T. Stamper Malcolm Stamper (April 4, 1925 – June 14, 2005) was the longest serving president in Boeing'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, Stamper joined Boei ...

to spearhead production of the new

747 747 may refer to: * 747 (number), a number * AD 747, a year of the Julian calendar * 747 BC, a year in the 8th century BC * Boeing 747, a large commercial jet airliner Music and film * 747s (band), an indie band * ''747'' (album), by country musi ...

airplane on which the company's future was riding. This was a monumental engineering and management challenge, and included construction of the world's biggest factory in which to build the 747 at Everett, Washington, a plant which is the size of 40 football fields.

Recognition and awards

In 1965, Allen received the Vermilye Medal from The Franklin Institute. In 1971, Allen received the '' Tony Jannus Award''

for his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation. In 1971, Allen was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. For his lifelong contributions to aviation. In 1975, Allen was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. . In 1975, Allen was one of the first four living members inducted into the ''Fortune'' magazine National Business Hall of Fame. In 2003 an article in ''Fortune'' by Jim Collins ranked Allen #2 amon
"The 10 Greatest CEOs of All Time."

Personal life

In the last years of his life, Allen suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. He died in Seattle on October 28, 1985, at the age of 85. Allen is profiled in Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

's and

Mark Salter Mark Salter (born 1955) is an American speechwriter from Davenport, Iowa, known for his collaborations with United States Senator John McCain on several nonfiction books as well as on political speeches. Salter also served as McCain's chief of s ...

's 2007 book, ''Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, William Mcpherson 1900 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American aviation businesspeople American chief executives American chairpersons of corporations Boeing people Harvard Law School alumni National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees