Thomas J. Autzen

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Thomas J. Autzen (1888 – 1958) was a German-American pioneer in plywood manufacturing, best known for establishing a philanthropic foundation to support the construction of a football stadium at the University of Oregon. Autzen established the foundation during the 1950s with the single largest donation of $250,000. His foundation eventually raised $2.5 million in total donations, which led to the stadium's construction in 1967. Autzen Stadium was then named for him.

Although his name is popularly associated with the stadium in Eugene, Oregon, Thomas J. Autzen is actually an alumnus of Oregon State University. His donation to the University of Oregon is linked to his son's attendance at the school during the late 1930s and early 1940s.

Within the wood products manufacturing industry, Thomas J. Autzen and his family are most notably recognized for owning and managing a company that helped revolutionize wood-laminate milling methods still in use today. These discoveries, which were engineered and utilized at the Autzen plants, had an enormous impact on modern building methods and helped radically change plywood production throughout the industry.

[edit] Biography

Autzen was born in 1888 into a Danish logging family who immigrated to the bayside town of Hoquiam, Washington in the late 1800s. His father, Peter Autzen, spent his early adult life working successfully as a logger. In 1902, Peter purchased an established Northwest wood products mill, originally known as Doernbecher and Holbrook. Once the Autzen family took over management, they renamed the mill "Portland Manufacturing Company." Under Peter's leadership, management at the North Portland-based mill began pioneering some of the nation's earliest known, mass-produced, plywood panels.^[1] A self-engineered glue spreader, which allowed "plys" of wood to easily bond during mass-production, helped drive production levels to a new high. Thomas J. Autzen and the mill's superintendent, Oscar Mason, are credited with developing the device and marketing it into the company's greatest asset.

Autzen graduated from Oregon State University (known then as Oregon Agricultural College) in 1909 with a degree in electrical engineering. Autzen was active in his school's campus life and joined several clubs, including the Amicitia Literary Society, the Orange staff, the Associated Students, and the college branch of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.^[2]

Thomas J. Autzen took over management of the family business following the untimely death of his father in 1918. Perhaps, his greatest contributions were in the area of sales and business administration. He played a leading role in resurrecting a company subsidiary from a devastating fire, which completely destroyed the plant's milling operations. As president, he is also credited with growing the family's milling businesses into one of the Northwest's largest suppliers of plywood and helping develop widely used modern plywood bonding technologies.

During the midst of America's Great Depression, sales had plummeted at Portland Manufacturing Company and, as with most businesses during this period, profits were slow to recover. Autzen opted to negotiate a profit-sharing deal with M and M Woodworking Company, which allowed him to retire his day-to-day management responsibilities. Over the next 20 years the family maintained an interest in M and M Woodworking Company, but this organization saw many changes in leadership and growth. M and M Woodworking Company became somewhat of a conglomeration, made up of multiple Northwest-area wood products companies. The family's interest in the organization was sold to Simpson Timber Company in 1956. Thomas J. Autzen died in 1958.

Thomas E. Autzen is the son of Thomas J. Autzen. He is currently an active philanthropist in the Portland area. Since the Autzen Foundation was first established, it has helped raise funds and provide numerous grants to charitable organizations, many of which are located in the states of Oregon and New York.

[edit] References

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