Thomas, Charles Allen, 1900-1982

During his early career, Charles Allen Thomas worked at General Motors as a research chemist from 1923 to 1936 and also at Thomas and Hochwalt Laboratories, of which he was also a founder, from 1926 to 1936. Additional employment included: Vice President of Dayton Synthetic Chemicals (1930-34) and Vice President of Carbosolve Corporation (1931-36). The majority of his career, however, was spent at Monsanto, where he worked from 1936 to 1970. At Monsanto his positions included President of Monsanto Petroleum Chemicals Division (1934-37), Director of Central Research Department (1936-46), President of Monsanto Chemical Company (1951-60), Chairman of the Board of Directors (1960-65), Chairman of the Technical Committee (1964-67), Chairman of the Finance Committee (1965-68), and numerous other honorary posts. His involvement in the field of higher education involved serving as curator of Transylvania College, endowing the Charles Allen Thomas Professorship in Chemistry at Washington University (1976), and serving as chairman of the Board of Trustees at Washington University from 1966-1980.