Stanley I. Landgraf (July 29, 1925 – June 29, 1997) was a business executive and the acting president of

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

from 1987 to 1988. He was born on July 29, 1925, in

Saugerties, New York Saugerties () is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in the northeastern corner of Ulster County, New York, Ulster County, New York (state), New York. The population was 19,038 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

. From 1943 to 1946, he served in the U.S. Navy as an officer on the destroyer USS Watts. He and his wife Barbara had three children; Curtis, Joseph and Sharon. He received bachelor's degrees in metallurgical engineering and management engineering from Rensselaer in 1946 and 1947 respectively. In 1947, he joined Mohawk Carpet Mills of

Amsterdam, New York Amsterdam () is a city in Montgomery County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 18,219. The city is named after Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam is bordered on the northern and ea ...

, which grew through mergers to become the Mohasco Corporation. In 1974, he was elected president of the company and in 1978, he was named chief executive officer. In 1980, he became chairman and in 1985 he retired from the company. From 1985 to 1995, he was president of the Capital Region Technology Development Council, which provided technology and managerial support to Albany-area startup companies and helped them meet investors. He also served as a director of several companies, including Albany International, Huffy Corporation and Victory Funds. He was elected to the Rensselaer board of trustees in 1977. From 1987 to 1988, he was acting president of Rensselaer. He received the Distinguished Service Award from Rensselaer in 1988. He died on June 29, 1997. Since 1998, the computer science department at Rensselaer presents an annual award in his honor to "a computer science major who excels in leadership skills and academic achievement."

References

Presidents of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 1925 births Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni 1997 deaths People from Saugerties, New York Military personnel from New York (state) 20th-century American academics {{US-academic-administrator-1920s-stub