WASHINGTON - Before being ousted in a sex scandal, Harry Stonecipher had a distinguished career in the corporate world, mainly in the aerospace industry, spanning over 40 years.
The 68-year-old son of a Tennessee coal miner had worked his way to become president and chief executive of The Boeing Co., before his abrupt resignation on Monday because of an affair with a female executive.
Trained in physics, Stonecipher started his career with General Motors' transmission division in 1960 but quickly moved to General Electric' Evendale Aircraft Engine unit, where he rose to become vice president.
Stonecipher in 1987 joined aerospace firm Sunstrand, a company later acquired by United Technologies. He became CEO at Sunstrand in 1989 and chairman in 1991.
In 1994, Stonecipher became president and chief executive officer of McDonnell Douglas, a major defense contractor and aircraft maker known for the DC-10 jet.
He helped engineer a merger with Boeing in 1997, and at the time became president and chief operating officer and a member of Boeing's board.
Stonecipher retired in 2002 but returned to Boeing, ironically, to help the company get through a series of corporate scandals that forced the resignation of chief executive Phil Condit.
"I plan to do it as long as my health is good and I am doing it to the board's satisfaction," Stonecipher told analysts at the time. "I serve at the will of the board."
Stonecipher, married with two children and two grandchildren, has also been known as a fierce critic of Airbus, claiming Boeing's European rival benefits from subsidies that puts the US firm at a disadvantage in commercial aviation.
In recent years, Boeing has been overtaken in commercial plane deliveries although it remains the biggest diversified aerospace firm with a large number of operations in satellites, space and defense systems.
03/07/2005 16:53 GMT