John Franklin Gordon

Background

Gordon was born on May 15, 1900, in Akron, Ohio, the son of Frederick Farnum Gordon and Margaret Vance. His father was a commercial building contractor.

Education

When Gordon was seven, his family moved to Greeley, Colorado, where he attended local schools. He entered the United States Naval Academy in 1918 and graduated in 1922. After the end of World War I, the navy needed fewer junior officers and encouraged midshipmen to resign at graduation. Gordon was among the nearly 150 in the class of 1922 who resigned. He then took advanced courses at the University of Michigan and was awarded an M. S. in mechanical engineering in 1923.

Career

In September 1923, after being interviewed by some major automobile manufacturers, Gordon began work as a laboratory technician in the Cadillac Motor Car Division in Detroit. He was promoted in 1928 to assistant foreman of the experimental laboratory, to foreman in 1929, and to motor design engineer in 1933. In 1940, Gordon was transferred to the Allison Aircraft Engine Division of General Motors in Indianapolis for work in forward engine design. At that time, the Allison Division was expanding to become the major producer of aircraft engines in the United States. Gordon's major project was to design and develop a powerful liquid-cooled aircraft engine, which demanded a very high degree of precision. His experience in producing precision automobile engines helped him design the high-horsepower aircraft engines for faster and bigger fighter planes. Meanwhile, he was also working with Cadillac on designing tanks and motorized artillery. Because of his efforts for the two divisions, Allison became the principal manufacturer of mass-produced, liquid-cooled aircraft engines for the Army Air Force during World War II, and Cadillac produced more than 170 precision parts for the Allison engines. In June 1943, Gordon returned to Cadillac as chief engineer; later he was in charge of designing a motor and transmission for light tanks. Gordon became general manager of Cadillac and a vice-president of General Motors (GM) in 1946. With other engineers, he designed and developed Cadillac's high-compression, overhead valve V-8 engine. The 160-horsepower engine was less noisy, more efficient, more than 200 pounds lighter, and consumed 15 to 20 percent less fuel than the one it replaced. It later became an industry standard and dominated automotive production in the 1950's. Under Gordon's leadership, the Cadillac division broke all previous production and sales records for four consecutive years. In July 1950, Gordon left Cadillac and became vice-president in charge of GM's engineering staff. The following January he was named group executive in charge of the body and assembly division. He was also elected to the GM board of directors and became a member of the Administration and Operations Policy committees. The general managers of three GM divisions, consisting of 38 plants with about 100, 000 employees, reported to him. Gordon was in charge of decision making not only on automobiles but also on diesel engines, Frigidaire appliances, aircraft engines, and other consumer products. His major contributions included bringing out new models of all five General Motors cars in 1959 - the first time in company history that had been accomplished. From 1950 to 1958, Gordon was chairman of the board of regents of the General Motors Institute in Flint, Michigan. In August 1958, Gordon was elected president and chief operating officer of General Motors, succeeding Harlow H. Curtice. He was also named chairman of the GM executive committee and a member of the finance committee. During his presidency of GM, Gordon supported the annual model change in automobiles with better design and quality - which, he believed, would advance technology and, at the same time, make used cars available to people who could not afford the new ones. He believed that the challenge of foreign competitors could be met only by maintaining leadership in quality, design, and innovation, and by increasing productivity, mechanization, and automation. Quality-minded, cost-conscious, and administratively capable, Gordon led GM through the recession and into the boom of the early and mid-1960's, when GM doubled its capital earnings and sales, and tripled its profits of 1958. In 1965, GM's market share was around 50 percent in North America and 30 percent worldwide. As the president of the world's largest manufacturing corporation, Gordon often made it known that the "people philosophy" was his philosophy, as well as General Motors', and that his achievements could not have been gained without the contribution of his colleagues and his employees. He retired as president of the General Motors Corporation in 1965. He was a member of GM's bonus and salary committee in 1966 and became its chairman in 1967. Gordon was very active in charity and civic work throughout his career, particularly with the United Foundation of Detroit. Gordon died in Royal Oak, Michigan, after a brief illness.

Achievements

• Gordon is best remembered as an outstanding top corporate executive first in Cadillac, later in General Motors Corporation, with unusual ability in engineering, production, business, and leadership.

Membership

President of the Automobile Manufacturers Association (1963); President of General Motors Corporation (1958-1963); Director of the Mayo Foundation; trustee of the Citizen Council of Michigan; member of the Oakland University Foundation; member of the board of governors of Providence Hospital; member of the Academic Board of Advisers for the Naval Academy (1966)

Connections

On September 5, 1927, Gordon married Ruth Morrison; they had two children.

Father:

Frederick Farnum Gordon

Mother:

Margaret Vance

Spouse:

Ruth Morrison