FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 06, 2011
W.W. (Bill) Finley. Jr., President of General Atomic Company from 1974 to 1979, died in La Jolla, California on April 21.
Mr. Finley joined the Gulf Oil Companies in 1947 where he had extensive experience both in the U.S. and abroad in engineering, construction and management. He was instrumental in expanding Gulf's business activities in the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Okinawa, and in 1968 became a corporate vice president responsible for world-wide refining.
He was named President of General Atomic Company in 1974 after serving several years as President of Gulf Oil Company – Asia. At that time General Atomic Company was owned jointly by Gulf Oil Corporation and Royal Dutch/Shell.
In March 1979, Mr. Finley was succeeded as GA President by Dr. Harold Agnew, then Director of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. During his years here, Mr. Finley was a strong supporter of GA's helium-cooled reactor technology, and at the time he left GA, said that he was convinced that GA's "many scientific and commercial endeavors will prove successful."
Contact:
Doug Fouquet
(858) 455-2173