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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. Stamper grew up in Detroit and joined Boeing in 1962 after working for General Motors.His first assignment at Boeing was to sell its ailing gas turbine division to Caterpillar. Following this success, Boeing president William M. Allen asked Stamper to spearhead production of the new 747 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.In 1978, Stamper was one of only a dozen U.S. corporate executives to earn over a million dollars.He served as president of the company and a member of the board of the directors from 1972 until 1985, when he became vice chairman of the board. During the 1969-70 recession, Stamper presided over the laying off of nearly two-thirds of its 101,000 employees. But by the late 1970s, the 747 was a huge success. By the time Stamper retired in 1990, Boeing seemed to face no serious threat from McDonnell Douglas or from European upstart Airbus. He predicted that the company would remain No. 1 for the foreseeable future.He also served on boards at Nordstrom, Chrysler, Travelers Insurance, Pro Air, the Seattle Art Museum and the Smithsonian Institution.After retiring from Boeing, he started a children's book publishing company.Stamper was the grandfather of current South Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Jay Stamper.