Willard P. Zimmerman vice president of Owens Corning Fiberglass

Men Behind Fiberglas

Vice-President Zimmerman One

Of Firm's Most Popular Heads

Willard Paul Zimmerman, vice president in charge of manufacturing and sales of Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, is a hard hitter from way back — gridiron opponents will testify to this. "Big Zim" played a lot of football at Miami University in Ohio, and was named All-Ohio three years in a row and made the late Walter Camp's honor roll in 1916. Today he carries on in business the hardhitting tactics of the football field. It's "get today's job done today" with Zim, and his associates follow through because few executives enjoy the popularity among Fiberglas workers that Zim does.

His birthplace was a farm near Washington Court House, Ohio, June 18, 1894, and he married Ruth Anna McCoy, a classmate in high school and college, on June 27, 1918. He served overseas in World War I as regimental adjutant of the 330th Infantry, 88rd division. His first job after the war was on the promotional sales staff of American Seeding Machine Company. He was induced by Colonel Phillip McAbee, his World War commander, to join the Hemingray Glass Company at Muncie, Ind., as secretary-treasurer and then became Owens-Illinois plant manager when that firm bought Hemingray in 1933. It was he who developed the process that started glass block on its way as a staple building material. With W.K. [sic] M. K. Holmes of Muncie, his name is on the invention covering the original method of welding two halves of a glass block used by Owens-Illinois in the making of famous Insulux. Today glass block is a million dollar business.

W. P. ZIMMERMAN.

In 1937, "Zim" was called to Toledo, headquarters of Owens-Illinois, to manage the company's industrial materials division, and in this capacity he became closely associated with research and development work carried out with products made of glass fibers. He was chosen vice-president in charge of manufacturing and sales for Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation when that company was formed November 1, 1938.

A member of the American Legion and the "40 et 8," as well as-a former major in the infantry reserve, "Zim" feels keenly the patriotic urge to keep supplies flowing for urgent war needs. His favorite sports are horseback riding, golf and farming, and he raises purebred hogs and cattle on a farm near Muncie. He was a director of the Community Fund, Social Service Bureau, and Tuberculosis Association in Muncie from 1933 to 1938, and was listed in the first edition (1934) of America's Young Men, a roster of leaders under 40.