Marvin T. Runyon (September 16 1924–May 3 2004) was an American business executive.

After a long career as a manufacturing executive at Ford Motor Company, he retired, then was the U.S. head of Nissan for several years. He later served as chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority and as U.S. Postmaster General.

He was a forceful and charismatic figure who picked up the nicknames "Marvelous Marv" and "Carvin' Marvin".

Ford Years

He was born in Fort Worth, Texas and started working for Ford at the now-closed Dallas Assembly Plant in 1943, where his father was also employed. He served in the U.S. Army Air Force later during 1943 to 1945 and returned to Ford. After graduation from Texas A&M University in 1948 he began to climb in management, making the rounds through Ford assembly plants in Atlanta, Georgia and Lorain, Ohio during the 1950s.

He was a plant manager during the 1960s.... (checking sources)

He became an executive at the assembly operations headquarters in 1969 and became assembly division general manager in 1972. From 1973 to 1977 he was vice-president in charge of powertrain and chassis operations, then became vice president in charge of vehicle assembly and body stamping operations in 1978. When he retired at the end of 1980 it was widely rumored that he was going to head all Nissan operations in the United States, but that announcement did not come until several days after he had actually retired.

Nissan Years

In 1981 Runyon became the chief executive of Nissan North America and supervised the construction of its assembly and engine plants in Smyrna, Tennessee. These plants became among the most productive in the auto industry.

He was replaced by another former Ford plant manager, Jerry Benefield, when he moved on to the TVA.

TVA Years

In 1988 Runyon was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to head the Tennessee Valley Authority. While there he reduced costs by 30%.

Postmaster General

Runyon was appointed United States Postmaster General in 1992, at a time when the postal service was struggling with high costs and a poor reputation for service.

Runyon's first goal was to treat the United States Postal Service as a business geared toward making money and pleasing customers. He was a cost control expert and instituted cost measurement systems copied from his years with Ford -- he even sent senior post office officials to Ford to review their systems. He eliminated 23,000 management jobs, hired more letter carriers and counter employees and emphasized automation to speed mail delivery.

He stepped down in 1998, and began an independent consulting business in Tennessee, which he operated until his death. He also taught business at Middle Tennessee State University.

External links

• Obituary from The Tennessean
• Obituary
• Article on his appointment to TVA
• Detroit News retrospective