VERO BEACH, Fla. — Sheldon R. Salzman, president of the former Uniroyal Tire Co. from 1979-86 and co-chairman of Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co. from 1986-90, died Dec. 26 at his home in Vero Beach. He was 86.
Mr. Salzman, a career-long employee of Uniroyal Inc. and its predecessor companies, became president of Uniroyal Tire in 1979 in the midst of a financially struggling period. Seven years later, with the company a target of takeover attempts, the Uniroyal tire unit was spun off and merged with BF Goodrich Co.'s tire business.
Mr. Salzman then became co-chairman and chief operating officer of Uniroyal Goodrich Tire at the firm's headquarters in Akron. He remained at the helm after employees leveraged a buyout of the company.
Mr. Salzman left the company in 1990 after Group Michelin purchased Uniroyal Goodrich, joining the board of Uniroyal Holding Co.
Born in Bronx, N.Y., Mr. Salzman graduated with a degree from Brooklyn's Pratt Institute and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean Conflict. He was offered a commission in the U.S. Navy and transferred to the Navy's Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., receiving his commission as ensign in January 1952.
Upon his release from active service in 1955, Mr. Salzman joined the Naugatuck chemical division of U.S. Rubber Co., eventually becoming head of the firm's engineering development department in 1965.
He was head of the economic analysis group for Uniroyal Ltd., in London in 1967, then moved back to the U.S. in 1968, for a position that involved distribution/scheduling of all divisional factories in the U.S. A year later, he became manager of the division's largest factory in Naugatuck, Conn.
He returned to England in 1972 to become managing director of Uniroyal Chemical, Europe, where he was responsible for all chemical operations in Europe. Three years later, he returned to the U.S., eventually becoming president of the chemical company of Uniroyal in 1977.
Mr. Salzman was preceded in death by his wife Helen Ann, whom he married in 1953. He is survived by a son, David, and two grandchildren.