THORNTON ("T") A. WILSON
The Boeing Company
"T" Wilson retired as chairman of the board of directors of The Boeing Company at the end of 1987, culminating a 42-year career with the company. Wilson assumed the role of chairman emeritus and continued to serve as a member of the board of directors until April 1993.
He was born in Sikeston, Mo., on February 8, 1921, and died on April 10, 1999, in Palm Springs, Calif.
Wilson graduated from Iowa State University in 1943 with a degree in aeronautical engineering. He joined Boeing that year, leaving briefly for a teaching assignment and advanced study at Iowa State and a year at California Institute of Technology, where he earned his master's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1948.
The first Boeing airplane to bear a significant Wilson imprint was the dramatically new B-47 swept-wing bomber. He became overall project engineer of the B-52 program during the latter stages of its design and then led the proposal team that won the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile program for the company. He took over active general management of that program and established Boeing as a leader in multi-contractor systems integration work of vast size and complexity. Wilson was elected vice president in 1963 and in 1964 was placed in charge of operations and planning for corporate headquarters. Two years later, he was named executive vice president. He became company president in April 1968 and was elected chief executive officer in 1969. In September 1972, he was elected chairman of the board and chief executive officer. He served as chief executive officer until April 1986.
In 1975, Wilson received the James Forrestal award from the National Security Industrial Association for leadership in promoting understanding and cooperation between industry and government in the interest of national security. He was awarded the Marston Medal by the College of Engineering at Iowa State University in 1978 in recognition of outstanding achievements in engineering. In 1979, he received the Wright Brothers Trophy for "significant public service of enduring value to aviation in the United States."
The 1982 Collier Trophy was awarded to Wilson and Boeing "for the private development of two advanced technology transports -- 757 and 767 -- with the support of the Federal Aviation Administration, industry and the airlines." In July 1983, Wilson was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame for engineering and managerial achievements during his professional career with Boeing. Also in 1983, he was named Seattle's "First Citizen" by the Seattle/King County Board of Realtors for his meritorious accomplishments in civic, community and public service. Wilson also received the National Academy of Science Award for Aeronautical Engineering and the Daniel Guggenheim Medal. In October 1986, he received the Wings Club Distinguished Achievement Award. In 1987, the Museum of Flight in Seattle named a newly constructed glass gallery after Wilson, who led the original funding effort to construct it. The T.A. Wilson Great Gallery is a 143,000-square-foot glass and steel showcase. In February 1989, Wilson was inducted into the National Business Hall of Fame.
Wilson was a life member of the Corporation of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (where he was a Sloan Fellow in 1952) and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Aerospace Industries Association. He was an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Wilson also was a member of The Business Council.