Kenneth Aldred Spencer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kenneth Aldred Spencer (born January 25, 1902 in Columbus , Kansas , † February 19, 1960 in Miami Beach , Florida ) was an American industrialist. The Kansas coal mining entrepreneur at one point owned one of the largest fertilizer manufacturers in the world.

Life

Spencer graduated from the University of Kansas in 1926 and began working as an engineer with his father's Pittsburg & Midway Coal Company . At the beginning of the Second World War, he convinced the American government to set up arms factories in the hinterland , i.e. in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri , for security reasons . In 1941, he was from the United States Department of War asked himself a factory for ammonium nitrate - explosives to build. The Jayhawk Ordnance Works in Galena, Kansas were built until 1943 and produced up to 14,500 tons per month.

After the end of World War II, production was to civil nitrogen fertilizer converted . Spencer received a lease with an option to buy from the War Assets Administration , which he redeemed in 1951. His business, now called Spencer Chemical , was extremely successful. He expanded and bought additional ammonium nitrate plants in Calumet City , Henderson, Kentucky , Vicksburg, Mississippi , Fort Worth and Orange, Texas . After his death his wife sold 1963 Spencer Chemical for 124 million US dollars of Gulf Oil .

Spencer was one of the founders of the Midwest Research Institute (now MRIGlobal ) in 1944 , which was tasked with finding peaceful uses for ammonium nitrate. MRIGlobal now works as a contract research institute .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Historical Honors Award Recipient: Kenneth A. Spencer ( Memento from September 16, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Kenneth F. Crockett: Kenneth & Helen Spencer of Kansas: Champions of Culture and Commerce in the Sunflower State . The History Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1-62584-919-9 , p. 55.
  3. ↑ a b History of the Spencer Award ( Memento from April 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ SURPLUS PROPERTY: Jayhawk Goes Civilian , June 17, 1946
  5. ^ Park City Daily News. In: Google News . September 11, 1963, accessed June 26, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Spencer, Kenneth Aldred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Columbus (Kansas)
DATE OF DEATH February 19, 1960
Place of death Miami Beach