Robert Stempel

Robert C. Stempel (born July 15, 1933, in Trenton, New Jersey) is a former Chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation. He joined General Motors in 1958 as a design engineer at Oldsmobile and was key in the development of the front-wheel drive Toronado. He was also involved with the team that created the first catalytic converter.

In 1978, Stempel became General Manager of the Pontiac division and in 1980, he became Managing Director of Adam Opel AG, the German subsidiary of GM. In 1982, he became General Manager of Chevrolet. In January 1984, he became VP and Group Executive in Charge of the Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac group. In 1986, he was elected to the board of directors, where he served until he "retired" (the board of directors essentially forced him out, presumably as a "scapegoat" for GM's woes at the time) in 1992. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7DE1F3BF931A15753C1A964958260#pr] Currently he is Chairman of Energy Conversion Devices Inc.

He graduated from Bloomfield High School in New Jersey in 1951. He received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1955 and earned an MBA from Michigan State University in 1970.