Donald F. Carpenter

Donald F. Carpenter
Born Donald Fell Carpenter
24 September 1899
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania
Died 28 September 1985 (aged 86)
Nationality American
Citizenship U.S.A.
Occupation American businessman, federal official

Donald F. Carpenter, 1899-1985, was an American businessman who served as the first civilian Chairman of the Military Liaison Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission, Deputy to United States Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal on atomic energy matters, and Chairman of the U.S. Munitions Board.[1][2]

In 1922, Carpenter graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree and entered industry, rising through key managerial positions with the Dupont Viscoloid Company from 1927 through 1933, and the Remington Arms Company from 1933 through 1947.[1] As vice president and assistant general manager of the Remington Arms Company during World War II, he guided the company's expansion to meet the Allied Forces' ammunition needs.[1]

In 1947 he was appointed a member of the Industrial Advisory Group to the Atomic Energy Commission,[1] where he advocated wider industrial participation in the developing atomic energy enterprise. In 1948 he was appointed by U.S. President Harry S. Truman as the first civilian chairman of the Military Liaison Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission,[2] where he strengthened the committee status as a civilian-military enterprise inclusive of Army, Navy and Air Force nuclear activities.[1][3] Later in 1948 Carpenter was appointed by Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal as his deputy "in atomic energy matters".[1][4][5]

In 1948 Carpenter was appointed by President Truman to be the Chairman of the national Munitions Board,[1] established by the National Security Act of 1947 to coordinate industrial matters affecting the National Military Establishment, including procurement, production, and distribution functions.[6] His work as chairman was recognized with letters of appreciation from James Forrestal, Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower.[1]

Carpenter returned to DuPont as General Manager of the Film Department in 1949, and worked there until his retirement in 1963.[1]

The Donald F. Carpenter Collection at the Hagley Museum and Library documents his life and career through photographs, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, pamphlets and letters.[7]

Personal

Carpenter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on September 24, 1899.[1] He was a first cousin of Walter S. Carpenter, Jr., and Robert Ruliph Morgan Carpenter.[1] He died on September 28, 1985.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 Memoirs, 1945-1949, Carpenter, Donald F. (Donald Fell), 1899-1985, Hagley Museum and Library, Manuscripts and Archives Department, http://184.168.105.185/archivegrid/collection/data/122392794, accessed 25 Apr 2014.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Pentagon Digital Library: Department of Defense Key Officials, 1986, http://www.whs.mil/library/Key47-04/30.pdf, accessed 25 Apr 2014.
  3. Pap A. Ndiaye, translated by Elborg Forster: Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 2006, pp. 194-198, https://muse.jhu.edu/books/9781421403342, ISBN 9780801884443.
  4. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 4, No. 4, April 1948, p. 110, http://books.google.com/books?id=vQ0AAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=nuclear+%22Donald+F.+Carpenter%22&source=bl&ots=dhMatGwYOL&sig=WH_LijGZDvumIJ8uFUe3bkNDVio&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0vFaU-aSH8XUsAS0_IDwDw&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=nuclear%20%22Donald%20F.%20Carpenter%22&f=false, accessed 25 Apr 2014.
  5. The Bridgeport [Connecticut] Post, issue of Friday, March 1, 1968, p. 22, http://newspaperarchive.com/us/connecticut/bridgeport/bridgeport-post/1968/03-01/page-22, accessed 25 Apr 2014.
  6. The National Security Act of 1947, Sec. 213, http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195385168/resources/chapter10/nsa/nsa.pdf, accessed 25 Apr 2014.
  7. WorldCat: Donald F. Carpenter photograph collection, http://www.worldcat.org/title/donald-f-carpenter-photograph-collection/oclc/857290225, accessed 25 Apr 2014.