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Carl Gerstacker
Born	Carl Allan Gerstacker August 6, 1916 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Died	April 23, 1995(1995-04-23) (aged 78) Midland, Michigan, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Known for	expanding Dow Chemical Company; essential products for WW2
Awards	Chemical Industry Medal (1946)
Scientific career
Fields	Chemical engineering

Carl Gerstacker (August 6, 1916 – April 23, 1995) was an American chemical industrialist who expanded the American multinational conglomerate Dow Chemical. A graduate of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he was and prepare the country for growth following the war.

Early years

Carl Gerstacker was born in 1916 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the younger of two children of Rollin Gerstacker, an engineer at a boat machinery manufacturer, and his wife, Edna Helen Uhinck. From his early years his father ingrained a sense of business, with interest in finance and the stock market. Gerstacker saved money earned from a paper route and other other jobs in a bank account. In 1930, his father urged him to invest his savings in the Dow Chemical Company. Gerstacker's maternal uncle, James T. Pardee had been a vice president and was on Dow's board of directors.

Business

After graduating from Lincoln High School in 1934, Gerstacker moved to Midland, living with his aunt and uncle, Elsa and James. James T. Pardee was a college classmate of Herbert H. Dow, and when Dow organized the Dow Chemical Company in 1897, Pardee became a member of the board of directors.

Gerstacker was hired at Dow Chemical as a lab assistant and enrolled at the University of Michigan through Dow's employee education program. He graduated in 1938 with a chemical engineering degree and continued working at Dow in accounting. When the U.S. entered the second world war, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an officer stateside managing production of artillery components.

Elsa and James Pardee both died in 1944, and their house passed to Eda, Carl Gerstacker's mother, who was still living in Cleveland. When he was discharged in 1946 as a Captain, Gerstacker came back to Dow and Midland, living in the Pardee House. He moved up the corporate ladder quickly, becoming Treasurer in 1949. On October 22, 1950 he married Jayne Harris Cunningham and purchased the Pardee House from his mother. The couple had two children: Bette (1951) and Lisa (1955). He was named Vice-President in 1955 and Chairman of the Board in 1960, a position he retained until 1976. He retired five years later in 1981.

Personal

Midland Community Foundation and in building the "Tridge,"

Summary

Gerstacker believed that companies have personalities, and Dow's employees shaped theirs. "For Dow Chemical, people are the most important asset, not the patents, the plants, nor the products." He had excellent judgment and made quick decisions that resulted in the consistent, stable corporate growth of Dow. He loved the company and devoted most of his life to it at the expense of his family life. Gerstacker was a giant in American industry in the twentieth century. "Ted Doan, Ben Branch and Gerstacker led the company through an explosive time of geographic growth in the '60s and '70s. He was a very principled manager with high standards," according to Frank Popoff, CEO of Dow from 1987 to 1995.

Corporate involvement

• Gerstacker served on the board of directors of Kmart, Sara Lee, Eaton Corp. and Chemical Financial Corp..

Carrier Corporation, Dundee Cement Company, ConRail, Consolidated Foods Corporation, Hartford Insurance Group, National City Corporation, Spence Engineering Company

Civic involvement

• 33rd Degree Mason Knights Templar (Freemasonry) for exceptional leadership, dedication and service.
• Trustee and Chairman, Albion College.
• Boards member, Midland Downtown Development Authority
• Secretary-Treasurer of the Midland Hospital Association's Board of Directors in 1953
• Board member, Masters and Johnson Institute
• First treasurer, Nature Conservancy, Michigan chapter
• Chairman, Michigan State Mental Health Society
• Board member, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Detroit branch
• Board member, Chemical Bank and Trust Company, Midland
• Founding member, Rollin Gerstacker Foundation
• President, Dow Chemical Employees Credit Union
• Board member and President Midland Red Cross chapter
• Board member and President Midland Rotary Club

Death and legacy

After battling leukemia since the early 1990s, Gerstacker died April 23, 1995 at his home in Midland. Gerstacker was quoted, "People should do good deeds because it’s the right thing to do. You’ll be much happier to give money to society and see it used while you are still alive."

• The Carl A Gerstacker Building on the University of Michigan campus contains almost 5,000 sq ft (460 m²) of space for the Gerstacker research labs. Research in the Biomedical Ultrasonic lab includes imaging. The Takayama lab features micro and nano molecular biotechnology. The Bio-fluid Mechanics lab focuses on lung research, including artificial lung development.

• The Carl A Gerstacker Commerce Center is an 11,400 sq ft (1,060 m²) building in Midland, Michigan constructed in 1996 in honor of the late businessman and philanthropist. It was funded by the Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation and is home to the Midland Business Alliance (MBA), the business hub of Midland County. After 25 years of service, the structure needed renovation, which began May 15, 2023. The project was budgeted at $3.9 million and was expected to be completed in 2024. An open house and ribbon cutting was held on May 1, 2025 to celebrate completion of the major renovation lasting nearly two years. The targeted upgrades included HVAC system, lobby and reception area, first floor meeting room, building security, parking lot enhancements for storm drainage and a new roof.

• The Carl A. Gerstacker Nature Preserve at Dudley Bay in Michigan's upper peninsula includes five miles of lakeshore, two small islands in four bays on Lake Huron and a large section of forest with two creeks plus Big and Little Trout Lakes. The preserve, managed by The Nature Conservancy, supports migratory birds and protects animal species and endangered plants.

• The Gerstacker Business Institute is a facility at Albion College prepares students for the business world. Students network with visiting executives, attain business and leadership skills from off-campus study and internships. Opportunities are available at nonprofit organizations, major corporations, start-ups, small businesses and accounting firms.

Awards

• Honorary Doctor of Laws degree, 1993 University of Michigan

External links

• Media related to Willard Dow at Wikimedia Commons

Category:1916 births Category:1995 deaths Category:American manufacturing businesspeople Category:American inventors Category:Midland High School (Midland, Michigan) alumni Category:University of Michigan alumni Category:American chemists Category:Dow Chemical Company Category:People from Midland, Michigan

Carl A. Gerstacker was born in 1916 in Cleveland, Ohio. At an early age his father, Rollin, instilled in him an interest in finance and the stock market. In 1930, when Carl turned fourteen, Rollin advised his son to withdraw his paper-route and odd-job money from a local bank and invest it all in The Dow Chemical Company. It was the beginning of a relationship that would last a lifetime. After high school, Carl landed an hourly position with Dow Chemical as a lab assistant and, at the same time, pursued an engineering degree at the University of Michigan as part of the company’s student training course. After graduating in 1938, Gerstacker continued to work for Dow Chemical until the outbreak of World War II when he joined the U.S. Army. Returning to civilian life in 1946, he was rehired by Dow and quickly moved up the corporate ladder, becoming Treasurer in 1949, Vice-President in 1955, and Chairman of the Board in 1960, a position he retained until 1976. He retired five years later in 1981.

Carl Gerstacker was a business leader who believed that every company had a special personality and that the Dow personality was largely shaped by its employees. “For Dow Chemical, people are the most important asset, not the patents, the plants, nor the products.” Gerstacker’s personal financial acumen was rivaled only by his own contributions to the sound corporate growth of Dow Chemical, a business he loved and to which he devoted his life. Gerstacker died in 1995, leaving a legacy that lives on in the form of numerous philanthropic endeavors he began during his lifetime and on whose boards he once served. Carl A. Gerstacker was one of the towering figures of twentieth-century American industry.

Carl Gerstacker, 78, former chairman of the board of Dow Chemical Co. Born in Cleveland, Gerstacker was the nephew of an original financial backer of the company. He earned a chemical engineering degree from the University of Michigan and joined Dow in 1938 as an engineer. He liked to say that his first job for the company involved washing test tubes. More oriented toward business and finance than engineering, Gerstacker soon moved to accounting and auditing. After serving the Army by managing artillery production during World War II, he returned to Dow and quickly rose through the ranks. He was made a director in 1948 and a year later was named treasurer. He became a vice president in 1955 and was named chairman in 1960 and served until 1976. He retired as a director in 1981. Gerstacker was also on the boards of directors for K mart Corp., Sara Lee Corp., Eaton Corp. and Chemical Financial Corp. On April 23 in Midland, Mich., of leukemia.