University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Grainger College of Engineering

William Bertram Greene

[title]
To William Bertram Greene, engineer and industrialist, for his role in introducing mechanization to the problem of materials handling and processing.

Retired Chairman of the Board, Barber-Greene Company, Aurora, Illinois

  • BS, Mechanical Engineering, 1908

Following graduation, Mr. Greene was employed by the Robins Company that had pioneered in belt conveyors. After two years in the Engineering Department, he transferred to the Stephens-Adamson Manufacturing Company in Aurora, Illinois, where he soon became advertising manager.

It was there that he became intimately acquainted with Harry H. Barber (University of Illinois, Class of 1907) whom he had casually known at the University. They soon discovered a common interest in the development of new materials handling machines.

After several years which included lengthy discussions on the need and potential for standardized materials handling machines, on October 21, 1916, with an investment of $1000 each, they founded the Barber-Greene Company which has become one of the leading manufacturers of materials handling, processing, and excavating equipment, and the world's leading manufacturer of asphalt plants and asphalt paving machines.

Mr. Greene served as vice president and treasurer, 1917-1945, president, 1945-1954, and then chairman of the board, 1954-1966, retiring shortly after the Company's 50th anniversary in 1966.

Current as of 1969.