F. Kenneth Iverson
F. Kenneth Iverson (born September 18, 1925 in Downers Grove , Illinois - † April 14, 2002 ) was an American manager .
Life
F. Kenneth Iverson was born on 1925 in Downers Grove, a small town in western Chicago . Iverson attended Northwestern University from 1943 to 1944 but left to do his military service in the Navy during World War II . He left the Navy with the rank of lieutenant .
In 1946 he graduated from Cornell University with an aeronautical engineering degree . In 1947 he earned a masters degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University .
After some engineering work, Iverson joined the Vulcraft division of Nuclear Corporation of America , which was based in Phoenix , Arizona and manufactured steel products. Within three years he made this area an economic success, while the rest of the group went bankrupt. In 1965 Iverson then became chairman of the board of the bankrupt parent company Nuclear. Iverson sold or liquidated the loss makers, relocated to Charlotte , North Carolina and focused on steel making. He was one of the first to use electric steel technology.
In 1972 the company was renamed Nucor because it had nothing to do with nuclear technology.
What made Ken Iverson special was his management philosophy and the way he ran the company. He recorded this philosophy in a slightly autobiographical book (" Plain Talk "), which the German (steel) entrepreneur Jürgen Großmann had translated under the title "Mal ehrlich ...". This book can be obtained from Georgsmarienhütte GmbH .
Works
- Plain Talk: Lessons from a Business Maverick , John Wiley & Sons (1997) ISBN 978-0471155140
- Let's be honest .... , Fromm (1998) ISBN 978-0471155140
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Iverson, F. Kenneth |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American manager |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 18, 1925 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Downers Grove , Illinois |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 14, 2002 |