Ex-CEO Robert Stempel dies; helped develop catalytic converter

Associated Press

DETROIT

Former General Motors Co. CEO Robert Stempel, an engineer who led the development of the catalytic converter but was ousted in a boardroom coup, died Saturday in Florida. He was 77.

During his three decades at the company, Stempel helped to develop many of the fuel-efficient and pollution-control technologies still in use today, including front-wheel-drive cars, the catalytic converter, and even battery-powered cars. Stempel was chairman and CEO from 1990 to 1992.

“He is the best engineer I’ve ever worked with in the world,” said Stan Ovshinsky, who ran Energy Conversion Devices, a car-battery development company where Stempel worked after leaving GM.

But Stempel’s accomplishments as an engineer were overshadowed by his short tenure at the top of the company.

He and his management team were forced out after GM’S North American operations lost billions of dollars. Though he wasn’t blamed for all the losses, Stempel and his team were seen as moving too slowly to fix the company’s problems.

The New Jersey native earned a bachelor’s degree in science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts and a master’s in business administration from Michigan State University, according to GM’s Heritage Center website.

Stempel started out at Oldsmobile in 1958 as a detailer in chassis design and was part of the team in 1966 that helped develop the Toronado. He designed the car’s front suspension and developed the mounting system for the engine and transmission. It was the first American front-wheel-drive car in nearly three decades.

Most cars today are front-wheel-drive. They are lighter and more efficient than rear-wheel-drives.

In the 1970s, Stempel recognized the need to cut pollution and make cars more efficient, helping lead a companywide shift to smaller, more-efficient vehicles, said Lloyd Reuss, a former GM president.

Stempel led the development of the catalytic converter, which uses precious metals such as platinum to convert the harmful gases from combustion into less-harmful ones.

He later was named vice president and group executive in charge of the Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac group and executive vice president of GM.