William Kempton Cordier, distinguished mechanical engineer, executive at three New York Stock Exchange corporations, and successful entrepreneur, has died at 94 of natural causes.
William Cordier was born in South Bend, Indiana in 1927, the son of Bennett French Cordier and Laura Candace Cordier. He attended Hyde Park High School in Chicago before joining the US Navy.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1949, the beginning of an avid association with the institution that he would continue for the rest of his life.
In 1952, he commenced a 23-year career at General Electric, in a broad range of functional and managerial assignments. He was general manager of the world’s first synthetic diamond plant, and designed its original production apparatus. Later,
as staff executive, he initiated and managed General Electric’s corporate consulting business, and headed its corporate advertising operation. He also served as president and CEO of General Learning Co, a troubled General Electric/Time Inc joint venture, where he achieved a business turnaround.
He became executive vice president of BFGoodrich in 1975. He then moved to Macmillan Inc as senior vice president, where he oversaw all non-publishing businesses and was president and CEO of its musical instrument subsidiary, C.G. Conn. In 1981, he founded and chaired Cordier Group Holdings, acquiring Canton Drop Forge, Oloffson Corporation, and Oloffsen Fabrication. He subsequently formed Cordier Management LLC and became a business consultant.
William Cordier received the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering from Purdue University in 2008, and Purdue’s Distinguished Engineering award in 2003.
He is preceded in death by his sister, Doris Mary Bradley. He is survived by his wife, Gail Elizabeth Cordier; by his son, William Jeffrey Cordier; by his nieces and nephews Candace Mae Parker, Thomas Deierlein, Matthew Deierlein, Michelle Viney, and Susanne Mazzarella; and by numerous great nieces and nephews.
Memorial gifts can be made at the donor’s discretion, or to the Bands and Orchestras Fund for the Future Endowment at Purdue University, online at
https://connect.purdue.edu/s/Cordier or mailed to:
Purdue for Life Foundation
403 W. Wood Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907
Attn: William K. Cordier Memorial