Edgar Gott

Edgar N. Gott
Edgar Gott, ca. 1930
Born	May 2, 1887 Detroit, Michigan
Died	July 17, 1947 San Diego, California
Nationality	American
Citizenship	American
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Occupation	Industrialist
Known for	Aircraft industry
Title	Co-founder, first president of Boeing Company

Edgar Nathaniel Gott (May 2, 1887 – July 17, 1947) was an early American aviation industry executive. A co-founder and first president of The Boeing Company, Gott was a senior executive of several aircraft companies, including Fokker and Consolidated Aircraft.

Gott was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1887 to Edward Alonzo Gott and Stephanie Ortman. He attended Detroit University School, a predecessor of University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1909. At the University of Michigan, Gott conducted research into rapid-cooling electrically heated combustion tubes. After graduation, Gott worked for the Griffin Wheel Company at its Pullman and Tacoma plants, before becoming the agent of his cousin William Boeing's lumber business in 1915.

In 1917 he was named vice president of Pacific Aero Products Company of Seattle, which became the Boeing Airplane Company a year later. While a manager at Boeing, Gott used his stature to argue against delivering money or other aid to Germans and Austrians after the end of World War I. In correspondence with a fellow Seattleite, Charles Osner, who was chairman of the Committee for the Relief of Destitute Women and Children in Germany and Austria, Gott argued that relief should first go to citizens of countries that had suffered at the hands of the Central Powers.

Gott was president of Boeing between 1922 and 1925 at a critical juncture in the company's history, leading it out of difficult circumstances in the wake of World War I. Under Gott's leadership, the company obtained several business contracts with the military. Boeing soon became a major producer of military biplanes, including the Boeing NB training aircraft and the PW-9 fighter, and established itself as an important designer and manufacturer of a broad range of military aircraft.