Ian K. MacGregor Papers, 1966-1976

Sir Ian Kinloch MacGregor (1912-1998) was born and educated in Scotland, where he received degrees in metallurgy. After college, he served as a management trainee with the British Aluminum Company. During World War II, he held posts with the British Ministry of Supply and the U.S. Army Ordnance. In 1957, MacGregor became employed by American Metal Climax, Inc. as a vice president of its molybdenum division, after holding executive positions at Manning, Maxwell, and Moore, Inc., a Connecticut manufacturer of pressure equipment, and the Campbell, Wyant, and Cannon Foundry Company of Muskegon, Michigan. In 1969 MacGregor became American Metal Climax’s Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive. He was also chairman of the U.S. Council of the International Chamber of Commerce. In 1977, he was named head of Lehman Brothers International, a joint venture of Lehman Brothers, Inc, Banca della Svizzera Italiana of Switzerland and Banca Commerciale Italiana of Luxembourg. Two years later, in 1979, he was appointed chairman of the recently nationalized British Steel Corporation, where he met with controversy for his aggressive management approach. His next role, beginning in 1983, was as head of the National Coal Board. MacGregor's approach to turning the NCB into a profitable concern was similar the one he employed at British Steel: cut jobs and close unprofitable pits. This led to the protracted miner’s strike between 1984 and 1985. MacGregor retired from the NCB in 1986. In the United Kingdom, there were campaigns to appoint him as head of the National Health Service and to the board of directors of British Gas plc, but without success.