Harry Stonecipher
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Harry C. Stonecipher (born May 16, 1936 in Robbins, Tennessee) is the former President and Chief Executive of American aerospace giant Boeing. He submitted his resignation upon request of the Boeing Board of Directors on March 6, 2005, due to an improper relationship with a Boeing executive.
Boeing said an internal investigation revealed a "consensual" relationship between Stonecipher and the female executive that "violated the company's Code of Conduct" and "would impair his ability to lead the company." His wife of 50 years, Joan Stonecipher, filed for divorce just days after news of his affair became public.
Chief Financial Officer James A. Bell succeeded him as interim President and Chief Executive.
In 1960, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics at the Tennessee Technological University.
Stonecipher began his career at General Motors' Allison Division, where he worked as a lab technician. He moved to General Electric's large engine division in 1960, and began to progress up the ranks. He became a vice president at GE in 1979, then a division head in 1984. In 1987 he left for Sundstrand, where he became president and CEO in 1989.
In September 1994 he was elected President and CEO of McDonnell Douglas, and held this post prior to its merger with Boeing in 1997. He remained on the board following the successful completion of that transaction.
His predecessor as Boeing CEO, Phil Condit, resigned in December 2003 following scandals over defense procurement. These scandals surrounded allegations of stolen documents from competitors and the hiring of a government procurement officer who at the time was involved in the USAF's KC-767 contract, a contract of extreme importance to Boeing.
Stonecipher has recently reignited the argument over the loans to the partner companies of Airbus by European, which he considers to be a form of subsidy. He argues that subsidies which were designed to allow the fledgling company to challenge the dominance of Boeing are not acceptable in the current context, where Airbus has overtaken Boeing in orders/deliveries for the first time and is profitable. In the past Airbus has argued that the pork barrel contracts awarded to Boeing (e.g. KC-767) constitute subsidy.
On March 6, 2005, Stonecipher was forced to resign from Boeing after an investigation uncovered that he had an affair with a female employee.
External links
- Harry C. Stonecipher executive biography (http://www.boeing.com/history/boeing/stonecipher.html).