Willis Paul Tippett Jr. (December 27, 1932 – August 20, 2015) was an American business executive who was the president, chairman, and chief executive officer of the

American Motors Corporation American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the mergers and acquisitions, merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 19 ...

, president of

Springs Industries Springs Global is a Brazil-based multinational corporation engaged in the manufacturing, marketing, and sale of packaged textile and non-textile home furnishings. It makes textile goods, such as sheets, pillows, bedspreads, towels and bath rugs, ...

, and president and CEO of

STP STP may refer to: Places * São Tomé and Príncipe (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code, IOC country code, and FIFA country code STP) * St Pancras railway station (National Rail code STP) * St. Paul Downtown Airport (IATA airport code STP) in Saint Paul, Mi ...

Early life

Tippett was born on December 27, 1932, in

Crawfordsville, Indiana Crawfordsville () is a city in Montgomery County, Indiana, Montgomery County in west central Indiana, United States, west by northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,306. The c ...

to Willis and Edna Tippett. Tippett graduated from

Culver Military Academy Culver Academies is a college preparatory boarding school in Culver, Indiana, which is composed of three entities: Culver Military Academy (CMA) for boys, Culver Girls Academy (CGA), and the Culver Summer Schools and Camps (CSSC). Culver Milita ...

and

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832, by a group of Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, the institution was originally named "The Wabash Teachers Seminary an ...

. He starred in Wabash's production of '' Mister Roberts'' and was a member of the school's football and tennis teams. From 1978 to 1983 he was a member of the college's board of trustees. Tippet was an

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. On January 24, 1959, Tippett married Carlotta Prichard, daughter of General

Vernon Prichard Major General Vernon Edwin "Prich" Prichard (January 25, 1892 − July 10, 1949) was an American football quarterback and United States Army officer. He played college football with Army and was selected as a first-team All-American in 1914. He ...

, at the

Fort Myer Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army Military base, post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and ...

chapel. They had two children.

Career

After leaving the Navy, Tippett worked for

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

. In 1964, Tippett joined

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

's marketing department, where he rose to the position of director of marketing for

Ford of Europe Ford of Europe GmbH is a subsidiary company of Ford Motor Company founded in 1967 in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. History Ford of Europe was founded in 1967 by the merger of Ford of Bri ...

. In 1975, Tippett joined STP, an automotive aftermarket products company owned by the

Studebaker-Packard Corporation The Studebaker-Packard Corporation is the entity created in 1954 by the purchase of the Studebaker Corporation of South Bend, Indiana, by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan. While Studebaker was the larger of the two companies, ...

, as an executive vice president. He was promoted to was president and CEO the following year, but left after only two months. He then served as an executive vice president of the

Singer Corporation Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac Singer, Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward Cabot Clark, Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing mac ...

. In this role, Tippett headed the company's sewing products division. On October 20, 1978, Tippett was named president of American Motors Corporation. As president, Tippett was the company's number two officer and oversaw almost all vehicle-making operations. In 1982, with AMC's partnership with

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

struggling to succeed, chairman and chief executive officer

Gerald C. Meyers Gerald Carl Meyers (December 5, 1928 – June 19, 2023) was an American industrialist, author, lecturer, and management consultant who was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1977 to 1982. Early life and career Gerald ...

left the company and Tippett was promoted to replace him. In 1984, Tippett relinquished the CEO title to company president

Jose Dedeurwaerder Jose Joseph Dedeurwaerder (born December 31, 1932) is a Belgian business executive who served as chief executive officer of American Motors Corporation and Interbrew. Early life Dedeurwaerder was born in Brussels on December 31, 1932, to Louis a ...

. On April 24, 1985, Tippett resigned as a company employee as part of a cost-cutting move. He remained chairman of the board until December 13, 1985, when he was replaced by Renault executive Pierre Semerena. From 1985 to 1989, Tippett was president of Springs Industries.

Later life

After leaving Springs Industries, Tippett served as chairman of the Council of Great Lake Industries, an alliance of U.S. and Canadian businesses. In 1980, Tippett and his wife moved to

Panton, Vermont Panton is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 646 at the 2020 census. Geography Panton is located in northwestern Addison County, along the New York–Vermont border. The western side of the town extends into Lak ...

, where he died on August 20, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tippett, W. Paul Jr. 1932 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American chief executives in the automobile industry American Motors people Culver Academies alumni People from Crawfordsville, Indiana People from Panton, Vermont Procter & Gamble people United States Navy officers Wabash College alumni Wabash Little Giants football players Ford people