William McPherson Allen, Aviation Hall of Fame Medal, 1971
Image by Shook Photos
WILLIAM McPHERSON ALLEN
1900 ~
AVIATION HALL OF FAME
BOEING B-52 JET BOMBER – 1952
707 JET TRANSPORT – 1958
747 JET TRANSPORT 1967
APOLLO – SATURN V
S.S.T. [Super Sonic Transport]
Date: 1971
Source Type: Postcard
Designer, Manufacturer: P.A.M., R. Beck, Medallic Art Company of New York (.999 pure silver)
Remark: William McPherson Allen was born at Lolo, Missoula County, Montana, on September 1, 1900, the son of Charles M. Allen and Gertrude M. (Hughes) Allen.
After graduating from The University of Montana, he would enroll at Harvard Law School where he would graduate in 1925.
On April 15, 1927, Allen married Dorothy Dixon, the daughter of former Montana governor Joseph M. Dixon. Dorothy would pass away in 1940 and he remarried on January 4, 1948, to Mary Ellen Field (often referred to as M.E.F.).
Allen became a member of the Board of Boeing Air Transport in 1930 while he was serving as an attorney for the Seattle law firm of Donworth, Todd & Higgins. He would leave this firm in 1931 to serve as corporate counsel for the Boeing Airplane Company. Allen would prepare the articles of incorporation that created United Airlines in 1931 when the Boeing Company was forced to separate its commercial transportation business from its aircraft manufacturing business.
In 1944, Boeing President Philip G. Johnson would suddenly pass away and Chairman Claire Egtvedt was responsible for finding Johnson’s replacement. Johnson turned to Allen, who initially rejected the position but would later accept it.
Allen would serve as the president of the Boeing Company from September 1, 1945, to April 29, 1968. He would then serve as Chairman of the Boeing Company from 1968 through 1972.
Allen is noted for "betting the company" on the development of the Dash 80 (Boeing 367-80), the world’s first commercially successful jet airliner. He was ultimately responsible for the commercialization of the Boeing 707, 727, 737, and 747, as well as numerous military and space technologies.
The cover story of the July 21, 2003, issue of Fortune magazine concerned the ranking of the 10 greatest CEOs of all time. William M. Allen was ranked No. 2 behind Charles Coffin, the first president of General Electric.
Allen was be the recipient of multiple prestigious aviation awards, including: Collier Trophy (1955), Aviation Week and Space Technology’s Laureate Award (1957), Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy (1969), National Aviation Hall of Fame (1971), Daniel Guggenheim Medal (1973), International Aerospace Hall of Fame (1975), and the Elmer A. Sperry Award (1980).
William M. Allen died on October 29, 1985, at Seattle, King County, Washington. He was buried at the Missoula City Cemetery in Missoula, Montana.
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