Eugene (Gene) C. Gwaltney graduated from Georgia Tech in 1940 with a
bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He was with the Russell
Corporation for forty years. Gwaltney joined the company in 1952 as
the Director of Research and Quality Control; since that time, he held
various leadership positions in the corporation, and in 1982, he became
chairman and chief executive officer. His business expertise helped
turn a regional producer of textiles into a Fortune 400 Company, with
an exclusive agreement with Major League Baseball to supply team uniforms
and to market game jerseys. Mr. Gwaltney retired from the Russell Corporation
in 1993.
In addition to Mr. Gwaltney's foresight in the business world, he believes
that young people need to be educated to compete in an increasingly
complex world. Toward that end, he has long been committed to pursuing
excellence in education, and his philanthropic vision has benefited
Georgia Tech in many ways. He served on the Georgia Tech Advisory Board
from 1978 to 1984, and he was elected trustee emeritus of the Georgia
Tech Foundation in 1989. In 1994, he was inducted into the College
of Engineering's Hall of Fame, and he is the person for whom Dean (of
Engineering) White's chair is named: The Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. Chair
in Manufacturing Systems.
Mr. Gwaltney is also a former director of the Alabama Textile Education
Foundation. He received an MIT Corporate Leadership Award in 1976,
and he is a trustee of Tuskegee Institute and of Birmingham Southern
College. He has two honorary law degrees, one from the University of
Alabama and the other from Birmingham Southern College. Gwaltney is
a member of the University of Alabama School of Commerce Hall of Fame.
