Edgar S. Woolard Jr

Edgar “Ed” S. Woolard Jr., the former CEO and chair of DuPont who led the company through tremendous restructuring in the early 1990s and emerged stronger for it, died Monday December 4 2023. He was 89. Woolard is perhaps best remembered by those outside the First State for his shorter service at Apple. As board chair of the computer company in the late 1990s, he pushed for founder Steve Jobs to return to the company that once spurned him. Woolard spent more than 40 years at DuPont never going more than three years without a promotion through his entire career, before being named CEO in 1989. Woolard earned his degree in industrial engineering from the now-North Carolina State University and briefly worked at Alcoa before an even shorter stint in the Army. He joined DuPont in 1957. Woolard is survived by his wife, Peggy Harrell Woolard, daughters Lynda Woolard and Annette Woolard-Provine, Provine, and two grandchildren.