Charles Carpenter Tillinghast Jr. (January 30, 1911 – July 25, 1998) was an American business executive. He was chairman of

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...

and chancellor of

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Biography

Tillinghast was born on January 30, 1911, in Saxtons River, Vermont. He was the son of Charles Carpenter Tillinghast, Sr. (1884–1961). He attended

Horace Mann School Horace Mann School (also known as Horace Mann or HM) is an American private, independent college-preparatory school in the Bronx, founded in 1887. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from the New Yo ...

and

, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, graduating in 1932. He graduated from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1935 and became a lawyer in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. He was on the staff of district attorney Thomas E. Dewey in New York City and a partner with the law firm Hughes, Schurman and Dwight. In 1957, he joined Bendix Corporation, becoming director of its foreign operations. He was a vice president at Bendix in 1961 when he was hired as president and CEO of TWA in a deal sponsored by creditors seeking to oust

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

from control of the airline. Because control of the airline was in litigation, Tillinghast received an

employment contract An employment contract or contract of employment is a kind of contract used in labour law to attribute rights and responsibilities between parties to a bargain. The contract is between an "employee" and an "employer". It has arisen out of the old m ...

, dubbed a "

golden parachute A golden parachute is an agreement between a company and an employee (usually an upper executive) specifying that the employee will receive certain significant benefits if employment is terminated. These may include severance pay, cash bonuses, ...

", the first known use of that term. He served as chairman until 1976. Tillinghast oversaw a golden era for TWA as it moved to a hub system and achieved dominance in the trans-Atlantic market, and expanded TWA's reach into the

hospitality industry The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, food and beverage services, event planning, theme parks, travel agency, tourism, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars. Sector ...

by way of its purchase of the

Hilton Hotels Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide. The original company was founded by Conrad Hi ...

chain through a newly created division called the Trans World Corporation. He was criticized for ignoring the Pacific and domestic U.S. routes. During his

tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

the airline industry went through major changes, including spikes in fuel prices and the advent of terrorism. Tillinghast was chancellor of Brown from 1967 to 1978. In 1998, the university established the Tillinghast Professorship in International Studies in his honor. Tillinghast died July 25, 1998, in

Little Compton, Rhode Island Little Compton is a coastal town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, bounded on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by the Sakonnet River, on the north by the town of Tiverton, Rhode Island, Tiverton, and on the east by the t ...

References

External links

Caught at the Crest
''Time'' magazine cover story, July 22, 1966 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tillinghast, Charles 1911 births 1998 deaths Kansas City metropolitan area Trans World Airlines people Brown University alumni Columbia Law School alumni Horace Mann School alumni Chancellors of Brown University People from Rockingham, Vermont Bendix Corporation people 20th-century American academics