Magee, Frank

From Lehigh Engineering Heritage Initiative

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**Frank Lynn Magee**
Image:FLMimage.png Frank Magee, alumnus
Birth:	April 13, 1896
Birthplace:	Shamokin, Pennsylvania
Died:	October 4, 1991
Degree:	BS electrical engineering
Graduation:	1917
Notable Achievement:	President and Chairman of ALCOA

Frank Lynn Magee graduated from Lehigh in 1917 with a BS in electrical engineering.

Born in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, on April 13, 1896, he was the son of a business college president.

He attended Bethlehem Preparatory School, graduated from Lehigh University, and was hired immediately thereafter by Alcoa.

Mr. Magee’s career with Alcoa was interrupted for service in World War I, ending as an Army Signal Corps sergeant in France.

Returning to Alcoa in 1919, he became a successful salesman, persuading utilities across the country to adopt aluminum instead of copper for high-tension transmission lines. He served in a succession of sales and sales managerial posts until 1937, when he moved to production management.

During World War II, he was Alcoa's general production manager, and was awarded a Presidential Certificate of Merit for helping the nation to meet unprecedented goals in aluminum war production.

Mr. Magee was named a vice president of Alcoa in 1946, executive vice president in 1955, president in 1957 and chairman in 1960. He retired as chairman in 1962, but continued as chairman of the executive committee until 1965.

A tall, low-key man, he loved golf and fresh water bass fishing. For many years, Mr. Magee raised pedigree Hereford cattle on a farm near Donegal, Pennsylvania.

On June 11, 1921, he married his first wife, the former Marie Janet Weston (a descendent of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins) who died in 1935.

On October 4, 1991, at 95 years old, Mr. Magee died of heart failure at Latrobe Hospital in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. A memorial service was held at St. Michael of the Valley Church in Rector, Pennsylvania.

He is survived by his second wife, the former Dorothy C. Hurlock, whom he married in 1938; three sons, Curtis W. Magee, George L. Hoffman Jr., and William H. Hoffman, seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.