Edgar S. Woolard Jr.

Edgar S. Woolard Jr. (born April 15, 1934) is an American businessman who was the chairman and chief executive officer of from 1989 to 1995 and a member of the Apple Board of Directors from 1996 to 2000.

Early life and education
Woolard was born in 1934 in. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from in 1956. He was a lieutenant in the.

Career
In 1957, Woolard joined DuPont as an industrial engineer in the plant, moving on to manufacturing and management positions in,  and. He was CEO and chairman from 1989 to 1995. During that time, DuPont stock increased by 160 percent.

Apple Computer
Woolard joined the board of directors of Apple Computer in 1996 while it was in financial duress under then-CEO Gil Amelio. Woolard took over as board chairman in 1997 on the condition that he was given full access to CFO Fred Anderson and Apple's human resources director. Woolard then played a central role in convincing the board to remove Amelio and allow Apple co-founder Steve Jobs to take charge. Woolard and Gareth Chang were the only members to survive the subsequent purge of the board. Woolard retired from the board on April 20, 2000.

Other ventures
He joined the board of directors of in 1998, and was its chairman from March 2000 to November 2003. He has been on the board of directors of the, , IBM and. He has also been an advisor to since January 2010. He is a member of the North Carolina Textile Foundation. He was chairman of from 1995 to 1996. He is a member of the.

Philanthropy
He is a member of the and the. In 1988, he received the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award Recipient from his alma mater, NCSU. He has donated more than US$1 million to the Alumni Scholarships at NCSU. The Edgar S. Woolard Chair at the is named after him.

Personal life
He is married to Peggy Harrell, and they have two daughters, Annette and Lynda. He lives in, , and.

Articles

 * The greatest business decisions of all time at Fortune (2012-10-01)
 * Former Apple board member Edgar Woolard Jr. talks about Apple CEO Steve Jobs at MacDailyNews (2006-01-30)