When you see those crazy Mountain Dew television commercials -- the guy butting heads with a bighorn ram, the guy chasing down a jaguar to extract a can of Dew from its belly, the guys piloting an alien flying saucer like a global-hopping skateboard -- remember that the guy who started it all is an industrial engineer. However, being the first to bottle and market the highly caffeinated, citrus-flavored soda pop is not the sole achievement of Charles 0. Gordon Sr., or even his primary claim to fame. This businessman extraordinaire, fund-raiser extraordinaire, civic leader extraordinaire, family man extraordinaire, and IE ancient has gained admiration from the furniture marts of this country to the halls of the Pentagon, from the campus of Virginia Tech to the citrus groves of Florida by being successful at just about every endeavor he ever undertook.
Gordon, who graduated with an IE degree from Virginia Tech in 1942, didn't really have a career as an industrial engineer, per se. Still, IE training lies at the core of the man who effectively gave us Mountain Dew, presaged the current health drink market by 40 years, turned Quonset huts into model factories, built a furniture empire via contemporary designs, and raised two future industrial engineers in his sons. He does leave an industrial engineering legacy in those Quonset hut factories and through his alumni activities at Virginia Tech, but, really, his primary contribution to the profession is inspiring all industrial engineers to aspire to such a lifetime of achievement.
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Sajay
Aditi Sharma
