James F. Goodrich

James F. Goodrich (January 24, 1913 – July 16, 2012) was the United States Under Secretary of the Navy from 1981 to 1987.

Biography

Goodrich was born on January 24, 1913, in Fennville, Michigan and educated in Jackson, Michigan. After high school, he attended the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of Michigan, receiving his B.S. in 1937. After graduating, he worked on Gulf Oil tankers for two years, and then spent a year as a machinist for Bethlehem Steel in Sparrows Point, Maryland.

Goodrich took a job with Todd Pacific Shipyards in Tacoma, Washington in 1940, and by 1943-45 served as Chief Engineer. In 1945, he was transferred to Seattle, Washington, where he worked as General Superintendent and then as Assistant General Manage. In 1956, he was promoted to General Manager of Todd Shipyards' Los Angeles division.

After 16 years with Todd Pacific Shipyards, in 1964, he left to become executive vice president of Bath Industries, Inc. The next year, Bath Industries changed its name to Congoleum Corp. in 1965 and Goodrich took over as its president and chief executive officer, a position he held until 1975. From 1975 to 1978, Goodrich was chairman of the Board of Directors of Bath Iron Works.

On September 9, 1981, President of the United States Ronald Reagan nominated Goodrich as Under Secretary of the Navy. Goodrich was sworn in as Under Secretary on September 29, 1981 and held this office until August 6, 1987.

References

United States Department of the Navy Secretaries Cabinet level Stoddert Smith Hamilton Jones Crowninshield S Thompson Southard Branch L. Woodbury Dickerson Paulding Badger Upshur Henshaw Gilmer Mason Bancroft Mason Preston Graham Kennedy Dobbin Toucey Welles Borie Robeson R Thompson Goff Hunt Chandler Whitney Tracy Herbert Long Moody Morton Bonaparte Metcalf Newberry Meyer Daniels Denby Wilbur Adams Swanson Edison Knox Forrestal Dept. of Defense Sullivan Matthews Kimball Anderson Thomas T. Gates Franke Connally Korth Nitze Ignatius Chafee Warner Middendorf Claytor Hidalgo Lehman Webb Ball Garrett O'Keefe Dalton Danzig England Winter Mabus Under Secretaries Forrestal Bard A. Gates Sullivan Kenney Kimball Whitehair Thomas T. Gates Franke Bantz Fay BeLieu Baldwin Baird Warner Sanders Middendorf Potter Macdonald Woolsey Murray Goodrich Garrett Howard Danzig Hultin Pirie Livingstone Aviles Work Assistant Secretaries Pre-1954 Fox Faxon Soley McAdoo T. Roosevelt Sr. Allen Hackett Darling Newberry Satterlee Winthrop F. Roosevelt G. Woodbury T. Roosevelt Jr. Robinson Jahncke H. Roosevelt Edison Compton Bard Hensel Kenney Andrews Koehler Askins Fogler Post-1954 Financial Management and Comptroller Installations and Environment Manpower and Reserve Affairs Research, Development and Acquisitions General Counsel of the Navy defunct: Air Installations and Logistics Material Research and Development Research, Engineering and Systems Shipbuilding and Logistics