Nationality American Died September 11, 1989 Name Randolph Guthrie | Known for Chairman of Studebaker Occupation Lawyer, businessman | |
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Born 1905 Richmond, Virginia | ||
Randolph H. Guthrie (1905 – 11 September 1989) was an American lawyer and businessman who became the chairman of the Studebaker corporation.
Randolph H. Guthrie was born in Richmond, Virginia. He attended the The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and then the Harvard Law School, graduating magna cum laude. In 1931 he joined the New York law form of Mudge, Rose. In 1958 Guthrie was a senior partner in Mudge, Steen, Baldwin and Todd, the legal counsel in the United States for Daimler Benz. In October that year he was elected to the board of Studebaker. When Richard Nixon lost his bid for election as governor of California in 1962, he joined the firm of Mudge, Rose, Guthrie and Alexander. Of the partners, he is said to have felt closest to Guthrie. John N. Mitchell was another partner in the law firm, to be appointed U.S. Attorney General by Nixon after he was elected president in 1968.
By 1963 Studebaker's automobile division was in difficulty. Guthrie was elected chairman of the board. At the 8 August 1963 board meeting he recommended that the board start planning on the assumption that Studebaker was going to stop manufacturing cars. Studebaker merged with Worthington Corporation on 27 November 1967. Guthrie became chairman of Studebaker-Worthington. Guthrie was chairman of the board until 1971.
From 1969 to 1977 Guthrie was chairman of the board of UMC Industries, which manufactured money-changing equipment. In June 1970 Guthrie was invited to represent Penn Central, then on the brink of bankruptcy and looking for government assistance. It was hoped that he could use his influence with Nixon. However John A. Volpe, Secretary of Transportation, insisted that the railroad dismiss Guthrie due to the political risk if the tie to Nixon became public.
Guthrie became a senior partner of Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander & Ferdon. He died at home in Hilton Head, South Carolina of a heart attack on 11 September 1989, aged 83. His son, Randolph "Bob" Guthrie, became a plastic surgeon, and was one of the two inventors of the standard procedure for reconstructive breast surgery.