William S. Knudsen

American automotive industry executive (1879–1948)

William Signius Knudsen (born Signius Wilhelm Poul Knudsen; March 25, 1879 – April 27, 1948) was a Danish-American automotive industry executive and an American general during World War II. His experience and success as a key senior manager in the operations sides of Ford Motor Company and then General Motors led the Franklin Roosevelt administration to commission him directly as a lieutenant general in the United States Army to help lead the United States' war materiel production efforts for World War II. Knudsen became the only civilian in U.S. history to join the Army at such a high initial rank, and under his direction, American industry dramatically increased its military production, including growing aircraft production from fewer than 3,000 planes in 1939 to over 300,000 by war's end.

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