Born in Lolo,
Montana, he attended the University of Montana, where he became a member of the
Sigma Chi fraternity. He graduated in 1925 from
Harvard Law School, and joined the Board of
Boeing Air Transport in 1930 while remaining an employee of his
Seattle law firm, Donworth, Todd & Higgins. A year later he joined the Board of
Boeing Airplane Company as corporate counsel. Following the death of Boeing president
Philip G. Johnson in 1944, Chairman
Claire Egtvedt was tasked with appointing his replacement. Feeling that none of the company's senior engineers had a sufficiently broad background to run the company, he turned to Bill Allen. Considering himself unqualified to run an engineering company, Allen at first declined the offer before finally accepting. Allen served as the president of the
Boeing Company from September 1, 1945, until April 29, 1968. He also served as the chairman of the Boeing Company from 1968 through 1972. While he was president of Boeing, he made the famous decision in 1952 to "bet the company", when he authorized construction of the
Boeing 367-80 and again when he authorized the launch of development of the
Boeing 707. He also participated in launching other planes of renown, among them the
Boeing 727,
Boeing 737, and
Boeing 747. In 1966, Allen asked
Malcolm T. Stamper to spearhead production of the new
747 airplane on which the company's future was riding. This was a monumental engineering and management challenge, and included construction of the world's biggest factory in which to build the 747 at
Everett, Washington, a plant which is the size of 40 football fields. == Recognition and awards ==