Robert Stempel

Robert Carl Stempel (July 15, 1933 – May 7, 2011) was a former Chairman and CEO of General Motors (GM). He joined GM in 1958 as a design engineer at Oldsmobile and was key in the development of the front-wheel drive Toronado. He was also involved with the team that created the first catalytic converter. Stempel was born July 15, 1933 in Trenton, New Jersey to Carl (a banker) and Eleanor Stempel. He was one of four children. His brother Jack worked in aerospace, brother Ted was a teacher, and a sister, Dorothy, was a social worker. He graduated from Bloomfield High School in New Jersey in 1951. In his teen years he had worked in Bloomfield, New Jersey as a mechanic to earn his college tuition, fixing his fellow students' cars while...