James Franklin Goodrich (1913 – 2012) was the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Under Secretary of the Navy Under may refer to: * "Under" (Alex Hepburn song), 2013 * "Under" (Pleasure P song), 2009 *Bülent Ünder (born 1949), Turkish footballer *Cengiz Ünder (born 1997), Turkish footballer *Marie Under (1883–1980), Estonian poet * Under (restaurant) ...

from 1981 to 1987.

Biography

Goodrich was born on January 24, 1913, in

Fennville, Michigan Fennville is a city in Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,745 at the 2020 census. Located on M-89 on the boundary between Manlius Township to the north and Clyde Township to the south, Fennville is located abou ...

and educated in Jackson, Michigan. After high school, he attended the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, receiving his

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in 1937. After graduating, he worked on

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tank ...

for two years, and then spent a year as a machinist for

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

Sparrows Point, Maryland Sparrow's Point is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, adjacent to Dundalk. Named after Thomas Sparrow, landowner, it was the site of a very large industrial complex owned by Bethlehem Steel, known for steelm ...

. Goodrich took a job with

Todd Pacific Shipyards Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United S ...

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

in 1940, and by 1943-45 served as Chief Engineer. In 1945, he was transferred to

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, where he worked as General Superintendent and then as Assistant General Manage. In 1956, he was promoted to General Manager of Todd Shipyards'

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division. After 16 years with Todd Pacific Shipyards, in 1964, he left to become executive vice president of Bath Industries, Inc. The next year, Bath Industries changed its name to Congoleum Corp. in 1965 and Goodrich took over as its president and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

, a position he held until 1975. From 1975 to 1978, Goodrich was chairman of the board of directors of

Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics. It is the fifth-largest ...

. On September 9, 1981,

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Ronald Reagan nominated Goodrich as

. Goodrich was sworn in as Under Secretary on September 29, 1981, and held this office until August 6, 1987. He died July 16, 2012.

References

Archive of press release announcing Goodrich's appointment as Under Secretary of the Navy

Article by Goodrich in ''The Naval Engineers Journal''Article mentioning Goodrich's activities in 2005Obituary in theforecaster.net
1913 births 2012 deaths Bethlehem Steel people United States Under Secretaries of the Navy University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni People from Allegan County, Michigan {{USN-bio-stub