Roger Lewis (manager)

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Roger Lewis (born January 11, 1912 in Los Angeles , † November 12, 1987 in Washington, DC ) was an American manager. He was chairman of General Dynamics and the first president of the state rail company Amtrak .

Life

Roger Lewis grew up as the son of a ticket seller for the Union Pacific Railroad . He later studied at Stanford University . In 1938 he married Elly Thummler from the Netherlands.

After graduating, he worked in sheet metal processing at Lockheed Aircraft from 1934 . In the following years he held various positions at Lockheed. During the Second World War he was responsible for purchasing and was primarily responsible for ensuring that there was always enough material available for aircraft production. From 1947 to 1950 he then worked as Vice President at Canadair in Montreal, Canada. He then became Vice President at Curtiss-Wright . From 1953 to 1955 he was Assistant Secretary to the United States Secretary of the Air Force, responsible for procurement. In 1955 he switched back to the private sector. For the next seven years, Roger served Pan Am as executive vice president of central administration. Where he was also responsible for some national defense projects.

In 1962 he was lured away by Henry Crown to the financially troubled aircraft company General Dynamics. At this company he served successively as Chairman, President and CEO . He succeeded in eliminating the company's financial difficulties. In 1966, he and other managers ensured that Crown had to sell its majority stake in the company. When General Dynamics got into financial difficulties again in 1970 due to problems with the F-111 fighter-bomber and the Quincy (Massachusetts) shipyard , Crown got back in and Roger Lewis had to leave the company.

In April 1971, he was appointed first president of the national railway passenger corporation ( Amtrak ). His work was heavily criticized because he failed to reduce the deficit and, on the other hand, he cut the train connections by half. In 1975 his contractual relationship ended and he was replaced by Paul H. Reistrup .

Roger Lewis then worked as a consultant for various companies.

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personal data
SURNAME Lewis, Roger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American manager
DATE OF BIRTH January 11, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH los Angeles
DATE OF DEATH November 12, 1987
Place of death Washington, DC