Alvin W. Vogtle

Alvin Ward Vogtle (born October 21, 1918 in Birmingham, Alabama , † April 10, 1994 in Conyers , Georgia ) was an American lawyer, Air Force pilot and industrialist.

Life

Studies and career as a manager

Vogtle earned a bachelor's degree from Auburn University in 1939 and then graduated from the University of Alabama Law School . First as a legal advisor, then as an employee of the Alabama Power Company , he later became Chairman of the Board of the Southern Company . The Southern Company has the most important power grid in the southern United States and is listed on the S&P 500 stock index and the Dow Jones Utility Average. Vogtle led the company from 1969 to 1983 and was thus involved in a leading position during a period of considerable crises and periods of growth.

War experiences

During World War II he was a Spitfire pilot . He was shot down and captured in North Africa . Vogtle (nickname "Sammy from Alabamy ") spent three years in camps such as Stalag Luft III , Dulag Luft, Offlag XXI-B in the vicinity of Sagan, Nuremberg and Moosburg. After four failed attempts to escape, he managed to escape in 1943. Among other things, he had to overcome a meter-high barbed wire fence and swam across the Rhine to Switzerland, where he was initially interned in Davos . His war experiences served, among other things, as a model for Captain Virgil Hilts (played by Steve McQueen ) in the movie Broken Chains .

Personal

He was married to Kathryn Drennen and most recently Rachel Giles Vogtle and had three daughters and four sons.

Honors

The Vogtle nuclear power plant , one of the most productive nuclear power plants in the world, was named in his honor.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Curriculum vitae on company website ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Obituary in the NYT  
2. ^ ^{A b} Vogtle - Alvin W Vogtle Electric Generating Plant. Information brochure of the Southern Company on the nuclear power plant named after him, p. 1 ( page no longer available , search in web archives: georgiapower.com ) (PDF, p. 3).
3. ^ Richard Munson: The power makers . 1985, p. 31 .
4. ^ Obituary by Wolfgang Saxon: Alvin Ward Vogtle Jr., 75, Dies; Led Big Power Supplier in South In: The New York Times. April 13, 1994.