Philip Caldwell (January 27, 1920 – July 10, 2013) was the first person to run the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

(after John S. Gray) who was not a member of the

Ford family The family of Henry Ford is an American family from the U.S. state of Michigan, best known for their control of the Ford Motor Company automobile manufacturer, which was founded by Henry Ford in the early-twentieth century. Henry's grandson Will ...

. He orchestrated one of the most dramatically successful turnarounds in business history.

Early life

Caldwell was born in

Bourneville, Ohio Bourneville is a census-designated place in central Twin Township, Ross County, Ohio, United States. It has a post office with the ZIP code 45617. It lies along U.S. Route 50. History The first permanent settlement at Bourneville was made ...

, the son of Robert Clyde Caldwell (1882 – 1935), a farmer, and Wilhelmina Hemphill (1881 – 1966). He grew up in South Charleston, Ohio and graduated from Southeastern High School. Caldwell was of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

ancestry. Caldwell was a 1940 graduate of

Muskingum College Muskingum University is a private liberal arts college in New Concord, Ohio. Chartered in 1837 as Muskingum College, the institution is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Collectively, the university's alumni are referred to as th ...

where he majored in economics and was a member of the school's debate team. In 1942, he earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

degree from the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

Career

He served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

as a Lieutenant during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Starting at Ford in 1953, he successively headed truck operations, the

Philco Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics industry, electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchased ...

division, and international operations; in the last of these positions he introduced the

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

into

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Following the firing of

Lee Iacocca Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca ( ; October 15, 1924 – July 2, 2019) was an American automobile executive best known for the development of the Ford Mustang, Continental Mark III, and Ford Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, a ...

in July 1978, Caldwell became president of Ford Motor Company on October 16, 1978. On October 1, 1979,

Henry Ford II Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), sometimes known as "Hank the Deuce", was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford I. He was president ...

retired as

CEO 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 ...

and as

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 group ...

of the

Board of Directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

on March 13, 1980; Caldwell succeeded him in each position. As Chairman of the Board and CEO, Caldwell approved and oversaw the development and launch of the

Ford Taurus The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from the 1986 to 2019 model years. Introduced in late 1985 for the 1986 model year, six generations were produced over 34 years; a brief hiat ...

(and its corporate sister the

Mercury Sable The Mercury Sable is a range of automobiles manufactured and marketed by the Mercury brand of Ford Motor Company. Introduced on December 26, 1985 as the replacement for the Mercury Marquis, the Sable marked the transition of the mid-size Mercur ...

) which were introduced to the media days before his retirement, thus allowing him to take public credit for the Taurus program, which became one of the biggest successes in automobile business history. On February 1, 1985, Caldwell retired from Ford, He later accepted a position as senior managing director at

Shearson Lehman Brothers Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward ShearsonNew York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. On September 23, 1985, he was one of 21 new members appointed to the

President's Export Council The President's Export Council is an American government organization that serves as the principal national advisory committee on international trade. The Council advises the President of government policies and programs that affect U.S. trade perfo ...

. He was inducted into the

Automotive Hall of Fame The Automotive Hall of Fame is an American museum. It was founded in 1939 and has over 800 worldwide honorees. It is part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area. the Automotive Hall of Fame includes persons who have contributed greatly to a ...

in 1990.

Death

Caldwell died at his home in

New Canaan, Connecticut New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of Connecticut's Gold Coast. The town is bound ...

on July 10, 2013 at the age of 93.

Awards and honors

*Industry Leader of the Year Award,

(1984) *Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

(1984) *Inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame (1990) *Harvard Business School named the ''Philip Caldwell Professor of Business Administration'' chair in his honor (1990)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Philip Ford executives Muskingum University alumni Harvard Business School alumni Military personnel from Ohio United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of World War II 1920 births 2013 deaths American chief executives in the automobile industry American people of English descent People from Clark County, Ohio People from Ross County, Ohio