William Signius "Big Bill" Knudsen (March 25, 1879 - April 27, 1948)
Danish-born American industrialist, an effective coordinator of automobile mass production who served as president of General Motors Corporation (1937–40) and directed the government's massive armaments production program for World War II.
In May 1940 Knudsen was asked by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to join the advisory commission to the Council of National Defense. In accepting the unpaid assignment over the objection of Chairman Sloan, Knudsen sacrificed an annual income of $300,000.
In 1941 Knudsen was named director general of the Office of Production Management and in 1943 director of war production for the Department of War, becoming in the process the first civilian appointed to the rank of lieutenant general in the Army. In requesting Knudsen to accept the commission, President Roosevelt said, "Bill … I want you to do that because when you get out into the field there may be generals who will try to pull rank on you - they can't do that because you will be over them. I want you to accept it for another reason, too. I will feel better, if you do." Knudsen was named director of the Air Technical Service Command in 1944, and that year was awarded the Army's Distinguished Service Medal "for exceptionally meritorius and distinguished service in the performance of duties of great responsibility." Production humming smoothly, Knudsen resigned his commission on June 1, 1945.
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William S Knudsen
