J. Peter Grace

Joseph Peter Grace Jr. (May 25, 1913 – April 19, 1995)[1] Was an American industrialist who was president of the diversified chemical company, W. R. Grace & Co., for 48 years, making him the longest serving CEO of a public company.

J. Peter Grace
Grace in 1982
Born
Joseph Peter Grace Jr.

May 25, 1913
Manhasset, New York, United States
DiedApril 19, 1995(1995-04-19) (aged 81)
Manhattan, New York, United States
EducationYale University
Political partyDemocratic
Board member ofW. R. Grace and Company, Grace Shipping Company, Grace National Bank, Citicorp, Ingersoll-Rand, Magnavox
Spouse
Margaret Fennelly
​
(m. 1941)​
Children9
Parent
RelativesWilliam Russell Grace (grandfather)
Honors

Born in Manhasset, New York, he succeeded his father, Joseph Peter Grace Sr. (1872–1950), as President and CEO of W. R. Grace and Company after his father suffered a stroke in 1945. The firm was founded by his grandfather William R. Grace, the first Roman Catholic to be elected Mayor of New York City. Michael Paul Grace, an earlier chairman of the board of directors of W.R. Grace & Co., was his uncle. His maternal grandfather was Charles B. Macdonald, a major figure in early American golf who built the first 18-hole course in the United States.[2]

Early life and career

Joseph Peter Grace Jr. was born May 25, 1913 in Manhasset, New York. His father was Joseph Peter Grace Sr., the former president and CEO of W.R. Grace, and his mother was Janet MacDonald. His siblings were Janet Maureen Grace, Charles MacDonald Grace, Michael P. Grace ll, and Nora Grace.[3][4]

He attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and Yale University. In 1936, he started working in the W.R. Grace mailroom when he was at the age of 23. He became CEO and president of W.R. Grace when his father had a stroke in 1945 and subsequently retired in 1946.[4]

Career


As the president and chief executive officer of W.R. Grace, the company went through a massive diversification transformation.

  • In the 1950s, W.R. Grace's Latin American operations were 60% of the company's sales volume. This was lowered to only 19% by 1962.
  • The company's chemical sales growth went from 6% of sales in 1950 to 55% in 1977

The company evolved into the fifth largest producer of chemicals in the U.S.. Adding to the diversification strategy was the acquisition of restaurants, sporting good stores, and auto parts companies.[5]

Authorship
Title Year Journal (if applicable)

or Book Publisher

 Copyright Claimant
United States Business Responds[6] 1961 The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science American Academy of Political and Social Science (PCW)
Removing the false assumptions from economic policymaking[7] 1981 Journal of Technology and Society Pergamon Press
Charting a course for America’s new beginning[8] 1981 W.R. Grace & Company
Burning Money:

The Waste of Your Tax Dollars.[9][10]

 1984 MacMillan Publishers The Foundation for the President’s Private Sector Survey on Cost Control, Inc.
Six Virginia papers presented at the Miller Center Forums, by Theodore C. Sorenson, J. Peter Grace, Ted Greenwood ... [et al.].[11] 1985 The Virginia Papers on the Presidency University Press of America
Wielding the Gramm-Rudman Ax[12] 1986 Journal of Accountancy American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)

Personal life

J. Peter Grace was Roman Catholic.[13] However, his mother, Janet MacDonald, was Presbyterian while his father, J. Peter Grace Sr., was Roman Catholic. He stated in a 1987 interview that he didn't understand the division between the faiths. In the same interview, he said "it is up to the really good people to get into activities that influence lives".[14]

He was a founding member of Legatus, an international organization of Catholic CEOs, with the shared goal to study and live in accordance with their faith as well as to spread the Christian faith in their professional and personal lives. He married Margaret Fennelly in 1941, and the couple remained together until his death.[15]

Politics
In the Oval Office in 1984

During the Kennedy administration, J. Peter Grace was head of the Commerce Department Committee on the Alliance for Progress.[16] President Reagan, in announcing the selection of J. Peter Grace to lead the Grace Commission on waste and inefficiency in the Federal government, said:

We have a problem that's been 40 years in the making, and we have to find ways to solve it. And I didn't want to ruin your appetites, so I waited till now to tell you this, but during the hour we're together here eating and talking, the Government has spent $83 million. And by the way, that includes the price of your lunch. [Laughter] Milton Friedman is right. There really is no such thing as a free lunch. The interest on our debt for the last hour was about $10 million of that.

In selecting your Committee, we didn't care whether you were Democrats or Republicans. Starting with Peter Grace, we just wanted to get the very best people we could find, and I think we were successful.

I'll repeat to you today what I said a week ago when I announced Peter's appointment: Be bold. We want your team to work like tireless bloodhounds. Don't leave any stone unturned in your search to root out inefficiency.[17]

Grace, a Democrat, was asked what he would say to the campaign theme of Walter Mondale, the 1984 Democratic Presidential candidate, that higher taxes would be required to ease the deficit regardless of who wins the November election.

"I'd tell him he's nuts," Grace said. "He's wrong. He's wrong."[18]

Awards and memberships

References
  1. "J. Peter Grace, Ex-Company Chief, Dies at 81". The New York Times. 21 April 1995. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  2. [ Displaying Abstract ] (2012-04-16). "Miss MacDonald A Bride – She Is Wedded to Joseph P. Grace at Westbury, L.I. – Marriage Announcement". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  3. "J.P. GRACE SR.DEAD; HEADED SHIP LINES; Roman Catholic Lay Leader, Philanthropist, Was Long III --In Retirement 4 Years Lay Leader and Philanthropist Opened Pioneer Air Line Philanthropic Activities". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
  4. "Joseph Peter Grace Sr.", Wikipedia, 2023-09-07, retrieved 2023-09-07
  5. "J. Peter Grace - Leadership - Harvard Business School". www.hbs.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
  6. Grace, J. P. (1961). United States Business Responds. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 334(1), 143–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/000271626133400116
  7. J. Peter Grace, Removing the false assumptions from economic policymaking, Technology in Society, Volume 3, Issues 1–2, 1981, Pages 113-121, ISSN 0160-791X, doi:10.1016/0160-791X(81)90017-8.
  8. Charting a course for America's new beginning, J. Peter Grace. 1981-09-01
  9. Grace, J. Peter (1984). Burning Money: The Waste of Your Tax Dollars. Macmillan. ISBN 9780025449305.
  10. "WebVoyage Record View 1". cocatalog.loc.gov. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  11. "U.S. Copyright Office Public Records System". publicrecords.copyright.gov. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  12. Bibliography Grace, J. Peter. “Wielding the Gramm-Rudman Ax.” Journal of Accountancy 161, no. 4 (April 1986): 66–70. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=4577739&site=eds-live&scope=site.
  13. Archives, L. A. Times (1995-04-21). "Business Mogul J. Peter Grace Jr., 81, Dies; Legend Among Execs : Obituary: The former chairman of W.R. Grace was ousted last month after record reign". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  14. "Saving Grace". Full Gospel Businessmen's Voice.
  15. Gilpin, Kenneth N. (1995-04-21). "J. Peter Grace, Ex-Company Chief, Dies at 81". The New York Times.
  16. "Welcome – Right Web – Institute for Policy Studies". Rightweb.irc-online.org. Archived from the original on 2012-02-04. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  17. "Remarks at a White House Luncheon With the Chairman and Executive Committee of the Private Sector Survey on Cost Control". Reagan.utexas.edu. 1982-03-10. Archived from the original on 2012-04-14. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  18. Upi (13 August 1984). "Reagan's Cost-Control Chief Derides Mondale Over Taxes". Retrieved 22 December 2016 – via NYTimes.com.
  19. "National – Jefferson Awards Foundation". Archived from the original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  20. "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  21. "J. PETER GRACE HONORED; Colombia Decorates Him for Aid to Latin America". The New York Times. 1958-05-23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
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