Ralph Jarron Cordiner (March 20, 1900 – December 5, 1973) was an American businessman.
/ref> He served as president of

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

from 1950 to 1958, and as its chairman and chief executive officer from 1958 to 1963.BusinessWeek
/ref>
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Biography

He was born in 1900 on a 1280-acre wheat farm in

Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,339 as of 2023. The combined populat ...

. He attended

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Founded as a seminary by a territorial l ...

, working odd jobs and selling washing machines, and graduated in 1922 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. He joined the Edison General Electric Appliance Company, a GE affiliate, in 1923. Later, he became manager of its Northwest and Ocean Pacific divisions. From 1932 to 1938, he worked in its

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

office. In 1939, he left GE and served as president of Schick until 1942. He returned to GE and worked as Charles E. Wilson's assistant. In 1950, he became president of GE, up until 1958. From 1958 to 1963, he served as chairman and CEO. During his tenure, he

decentralized Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...

GE into 120 units. In 1958 Cordiner fired Homer Oldfield as General Manager (from 1956) of GE's Computer Department for exceeding his authority by developing the Bank of America ERMA system, because he did not see any potential in the computer business. He served as chairman of the Defense Advisory Committee on Professional and Technical Compensation in the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

. He also served as chairman of

The Business Council The Business Council is a nonpartisan organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C.Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

'' on January 12, 1959.Time Magazine
/ref> He was the recipient of the first Gold Medal Award of the Economic Club of New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordiner, Ralph J. People from Walla Walla, Washington Whitman College alumni American businesspeople General Electric people 1900 births 1973 deaths Henry Laurence Gantt Medal recipients General Electric chief executive officers