William Lynn McGrath (May 1, 1894Marquis Who's Who, ''Who's who in Commerce and Industry.'' Volume 9, 1955. p. 698 – April 18, 1975) was an American

business executive A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations gr ...

, who was president of the Williamson Heater Company in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio. He served as 8th president of the

Society for Advancement of Management The Society for the Advancement of Management, commonly known as SAM, is the oldest among professional management societies. On November 11, 1910 colleagues of Frederick W. Taylor met at the New York Athletic Club to discuss and promote the prin ...

in the year 1947-1948. Moustafa H. Abdelsamad (ed.) "SAM Diamond anniversary," in: ''SAM Advanced Management Journal,'' Vol 53. Nr. 2 Spring 1988. p. 41

Biography

Youth, education and career at Williamson

McGrath was born in 1894 in

, son of John Edward McGrath and Margaret May (Groub) McGrath. After the regular Cincinnati public schools, he started working in 1906 selling newspapers for ''The Post.'' In 1908, at the age of 14 he was

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...

messenger.McGrath, 1974: Great Living Cincinnatians: William L. McGrath, 1894-1990, Awarded in 1974
at ''cincinnatichamber.com'', 2017. Accessed 2017-09-26. In 1918, at the age of 24, he got married. In 1920 McGrath joined the Williamson Company, a producer of heating equipment in

, Ohio. In 1931 he was appointed executive vice president, and in 1943 he was elected president. In 1959 he became chairman of the board. Under McGraths direction the Williamson Company had "diversified its product line to include cooling equipment... and had become a major supplier of containers for

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s, and delicate

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s."

Further career and honours

Later in his career, beside his work at the Williamson Company, McGrath had served as director of the Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company, now

Cinergy Cinergy Corp. ( ) was an energy company based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, from 1994 to 2006. Its name is a play on the words "synergy", "energy", and "Cincinnati". History Cinergy was created on October 24, 1994, from the merger of the C ...

; the Fifth Third Union Trust Company, now

Fifth Third Bank Fifth Third Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the parent company of Fifth Third Bank (5/3 Bank), which operates 1,100 branches and 2,400 automated teller machines, which are located in 11 states: Oh ...

; the Cambridge Tile Company; the Cincinnati Enquirer Incorporated, publisher of ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...

'' ; and the American Tool Works Co.American Tool Works Co. - History
at VintageMachinery.org, 2017. in Cincinnati. From 1949 to 1952 McGrath served "as an industry adviser to the United States employer delegate to the annual June conferences of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1954, and again in 1955, he served as the United States employer delegate to the conference, heading the American employer delegation. In 1954, he was elected for a three-year period as the United States employer representative on the governing body of that organization." In the year 1947-1948 McGrath served as president of the

as successor of Harold B. Maynard, and was succeeded by Charles C. James. He also served as president of the National Warm Air Heating and Air Conditioning Association. In 1974 McGrath was elected "Great Living Cincinnatians" by the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, where he had been elected director twice, in 1945 and in 1948.

Family

McGrath married Elsie G. Rademacher on June 1. 1918, and they had four children: Mary Margaret McGrath, Betty Mae McGrath, Robert L. McGrath, and Carol Ann McGrath.

Selected publications

* William L McGrath. ''Management development programs tailor-made to meet company needs.'' 1952. * William L McGrath. ''Markets make jobs.'' 1954. ;Articles, a selection * McGrath, W. L. "Problems existing in the ILO." ''Advanced Management'' 18 (1953): 9-12. * McGrath, W. L. "The American Role In World Culture." ''Challenge'' (1954): 15-18. * McGrath, William L. "Report to the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and the National Association of Manufacturers." Journal of the American Medical Association 164.3 (1957): 325-328. * McGrath, William Lynn,
Top Management and the Personnel Activity
" in: ''Top management handbook,'' Harold B. Maynard (ed.), New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960. p. 687-705

References

External links

McGrath, 1974: Great Living Cincinnatians
at cincinnatichamber.com {{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, William Lynn 1894 births 1975 deaths American business executives American business theorists Businesspeople from Cincinnati