The Grainger College of Engineering

Robert M. Hainsfurther

Robert M. Hainsfurther
Robert M. Hainsfurther
To Robert M. Hainsfurther, ceramic engineer, for his significant contributions in the field of flat glass manufacturing, and for his outstanding achievements in engineering management of the world's largest facilities for the development, research, and production of flat glass.

Vice President and General Manager, Glass Division, PPG Industries, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (now retired)

  • BS, Ceramic Engineering, 1930

Mr. Hainsfurther, an international authority in glass production, managed PPG's worldwide glass operation, involving 18,000 people, in 26 plants, in five countries. Under his guidance, PPG Industries led the U.S. flat glass industry in establishing the more efficient float glass manufacturing process, and in becoming the largest domestic producer of float glass.

After graduating from UIUC in 1930, Mr. Hainsfurther joined PPG, then called Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, as a management trainee at the Creighton, Pennsylvania plant. He was assistant plant manager there when he was selected as the first manager of PPG's Cumberland, Maryland new flat glass plant in 1956. He joined the corporate headquarters in 1959, and was elevated to the chief executive officer of the Glass Division, PPG's largest division, in 1966.

Current as of 1975.