Business Executive, Philanthropist and Diplomat. The grandson of North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead, he graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1891 and joined his father James Turner Morehead at the Willson Aluminum Company. They discovered the first practical processes for producing both calcium carbide and acetylene, which led them to reorganize Willson as the international chemical giant Union Carbide. John Morehead became its President, established corporate offices in New York, and settled in Rye. Under his leadership Union Carbide developed polyethylene, which became its biggest selling product. During World War I he served as an Army Major and was responsible for production of chemicals and industrial gases required for the war effort, later attaining the rank of Colonel in the Army Reserve. he served as Rye's Mayor from 1925 to 1930, when he was named Ambassador to Sweden, where he served until 1933. Having visited Germany in the early 1930s, he was one of the first prominent Americans to warn about Nazism's excesses. Morehead later became known for his charitable giving, donating Rye's new city hall, a hospital in Spray, and tens of millions of dollars to the University of North Carolina for a planetarium, a bell tower and a scholarship fund. He also established a charitable foundation, which in recent years was combined with another endowment to form the Morehead-Cain Scholarship Program.
Business Executive, Philanthropist and Diplomat. The grandson of North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead, he graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1891 and joined his father James Turner Morehead at the Willson Aluminum Company. They discovered the first practical processes for producing both calcium carbide and acetylene, which led them to reorganize Willson as the international chemical giant Union Carbide. John Morehead became its President, established corporate offices in New York, and settled in Rye. Under his leadership Union Carbide developed polyethylene, which became its biggest selling product. During World War I he served as an Army Major and was responsible for production of chemicals and industrial gases required for the war effort, later attaining the rank of Colonel in the Army Reserve. he served as Rye's Mayor from 1925 to 1930, when he was named Ambassador to Sweden, where he served until 1933. Having visited Germany in the early 1930s, he was one of the first prominent Americans to warn about Nazism's excesses. Morehead later became known for his charitable giving, donating Rye's new city hall, a hospital in Spray, and tens of millions of dollars to the University of North Carolina for a planetarium, a bell tower and a scholarship fund. He also established a charitable foundation, which in recent years was combined with another endowment to form the Morehead-Cain Scholarship Program.
Bio by: Bill McKern
Family Members
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