HUDSON, Ohio (Sept. 29, 2015) — After 22 years of service, former Goodyear executive Stanley C. Gault is stepping down from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation's board of trustees.
He will retire at year-end from the foundation, which focuses on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education.
Mr. Gault's career as a business leader is long. He was CEO and chairman of Goodyear from 1991-96. When he took over, the Akron tire maker was struggling with slumping sales and a huge debt after holding off a 1986 takeover attempt by Sir James Goldsmith. According to a 1992 Fortune article, Mr. Gault quickly began to turn the company around by slashing debt, boosting new products and improving the company culture.
Under his watch, Goodyear began selling tires through wholesale clubs — a move that generated controversy and anger among the ranks of the company's dealers who feared yet another huge competitor on the landscape.
Prior to his run at Goodyear, Mr. Gault served as senior vice president of General Electric, and chairman and CEO of Rubbermaid Inc. in his hometown of Wooster. He was a director and chairman of the board of Avon Products Inc. and a director of the New York Stock Exchange.
Mr. Gault was a two-time winner of the Rubber Industry Executive of the Year award presented by Rubber & Plastics News, an Akron-based sister publication of Tire Business — first during his tenure at Rubbermaid and then during his final year at Goodyear.
A Wooster native, Mr. Gault is chairman emeritus of the board of trustees of the College of Wooster, his alma mater.
Deborah Hoover, Morgan Foundation president and CEO, said in a prepared statement: “Our trustees said it best in their Resolution of Appreciation stating that, ‘Mr. Gault has guided the evolution of the Foundation through steadfast contribution of his wisdom, time and many talents over more than two decades, freely sharing his vast experiences and generously mentoring others.
“He has exemplified a generosity of spirit and deep understanding of critical issues that promote the mission and ethos of the Foundation and serve as an inspiration to others in the philanthropic community.' “
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This report appeared on the website of Crain's Akron Business magazine, a sister publication of Tire Business.