Walter Samuel Carpenter Jr. (January 8, 1888 – February 2, 1976) was an American corporate executive from Wilmington, Delaware, who oversaw the

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

company's involvement in the Manhattan Project to produce an atomic bomb for use during World War II. In 1919, at age 31, Carpenter was the youngest man elected to DuPont's board of directors, and the first who was not from the du Pont family. During his tenure on the board he served as treasurer from 1921 until 1940, as chairman of the finance committee from 1930 until 1940, as president from 1940 until 1948, continued as chairman until 1962, and as honorary chairman until 1974. He also served on the board of directors of General Motors from 1927 until 1959. Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Walter Samuel Carpenter and Isabella Morgan, Carpenter studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University, and participated in DuPont’s summer programs at

Gibbstown Gibbstown or Gibstown or Gibbston may refer to several places: Ireland * Gibstown, County Louth, a townland; see List of townlands of County Louth * Baile Ghib, County Meath, a village ** Gibstown, County Meath, a townland; see List of townlands ...

and Carneys Point, New Jersey, before dropping out of school his senior year to manage DuPont’s Chilean nitrate interests. He began working with one of his two brothers, R. R. M. Carpenter, in 1911, helping guide the company’s development of celluloid and dyes. He married Mary Wootten in 1914. Carpenter was responsible for DuPont's 1933 acquisition of

Remington Arms Remington Arms Company, LLC was an American manufacturer of firearms and ammunition, now broken into two companies, each bearing the Remington name. The firearms manufacturer is ''Remington Arms''. The ammunition business is called ''Remingto ...

and its partnership with

IG Farben Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG (), commonly known as IG Farben (German for 'IG Dyestuffs'), was a German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Formed in 1925 from a merger of six chemical companies—BASF, ...

for producing war supplies. Carpenter remained involved with Cornell University after he departed, serving on its board of trustees. His donation of $500,000 made the construction of

Lynah Rink Lynah Rink (pronounced LIE-nuh) is a 4,267-seat hockey arena at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, that opened in 1957. Named after James Lynah, Class of 1905, who was the director of Cornell athletics from 1935 to 1943, it is home to t ...

possible, named after a DuPont coworker and Cornell athletic director James Lynah. Carpenter also donated $1 million for the construction of Carpenter Hall, which houses the engineering library.

External links

*Harvard Business School'
20th Century Great American Business Leaders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Walter S. Jr. 1888 births 1976 deaths American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies People from Wilmington, Delaware Cornell University College of Engineering alumni DuPont people Manhattan Project people