- James Smith McDonnell
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name = James Smith McDonnell
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caption = James Smith McDonnell
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birth_date =April 9 ,1899
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death_date =August 22 ,1980
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known_for =McDonnell Douglas
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footnotes = James Smith McDonnell (April 9 ,1899 -August 22 , 1980) was anaviation pioneer and founder ofMcDonnell Aircraft Corporation , laterMcDonnell Douglas .McDonnell (or "Mac" as he was often referred) was a graduate of
Princeton University and earned a Master's of Science in Aeronautical Engineering from MIT. While attending MIT he joined theDelta Upsilon Fraternity. After graduating from MIT, he worked for the Huff Daland Airplane Company andGlenn L. Martin Company . He resigned from Martin in 1938 and foundedMcDonnell Aircraft Corporation in 1939.Headquartered in St. Louis, the company quickly grew into the principal supplier of
fighter aircraft to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy. In 1950, he founded theJames S. McDonnell Foundation to "improve the quality of life," and does so by contributing to the generation of new knowledge through its support of research and scholarship.McDonnell was, by some accounts, a believer in the
occult , and many of his aircraft were given names of supernatural beings or practices (such as ,demon ,goblin ,banshee , andvoodoo ) ["E.g.", Sheffield, Richard G., Air Combat Simulator Tactics and Maneuvers (http://www.flightsimbooks.com/jfs/page1.php).] .McDonnell Aircraft merged with the
Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. The McDonnell corporate heritage now rests withBoeing which merged withMcDonnell Douglas in 1997, including the St. Louis plant that produces theF-15 Eagle andF/A-18 Hornet /F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters.Family/Descendants
McDonnell preferred to keep his company in the family, and a number of his relatives were prominent in it, including his nephew,
Sanford McDonnell , who became its chairman.Mr. McDonnell was married twice, his first marriage to Mary Elizabeth Finney, took place in Baltimore MD on June 30, 1934, two children were born, James Smith McDonnell III on January 28, 1936 and John Finney McDonnell on March 18, 1938. His first wife died on July 6 1949 and he married again on April 1 1956 to Priscilla Brush Forney, her three children from a previous marriage were adopted by McDonnell.Notes
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NAME=McDonnell, James Smith
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SHORT DESCRIPTION=Aerospace pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH=April 9 ,1899
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DATE OF DEATH=August 22 ,1980
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