Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> November 17, 1999
Robert J. O'Toole, 58, is Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer of A. O. SmithCorporation. Mr. O'Toole earned his BBA degree in
1962 in accounting from Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois. He joined
A. O. Smith Corporation in 1963 as a financial analyst at the corporate
headquarters in Milwaukee. He became manager of the financial analysis
and planning department in 1966. In 1968, Mr. O'Toole joined A. O.
Smith's Electric Motor Company as controller, beginning an 18-year
affiliation with the motor business. In 1971 he moved to England to
become managing director of Bull Motors, a former subsidiary which
manufactured DC electric motors for elevator systems. While Mr. O'Toole
was in England, he helped establish a hermetic motor manufacturing plant
in Ireland which is now A. O. Smith Electric Motors (Ireland) Ltd. Mr.
O'Toole returned to the U.S. in 1974 to become general plant manager of
the Tipp City, Ohio, electric motor manufacturing facility and was named
the motor division's general manager and a vice president of A. O. Smith
in 1979. In 1983 he was named senior vice president of the corporation
and was responsible for the Electric Motor Division, Sterling Electric,
Inc., a former subsidiary, and the A. O. Smith Water Products Company.
Mr. O'Toole was elected President and Chief Operating Officer in 1986
and was elected to the company's Board of Directors the same year. Three
years later, he added the title of Chief Executive Officer of A. O.
Smith. He was elected chairman of the board in 1992. Mr. O'Toole is
currently a member of The Business Roundtable and Executive Committee of
the Manufacturers' Alliance and serves as a director of A. O. Smith
Corporation, Briggs & Stratton Corporation, Firstar Bank Milwaukee,
N.A., Firstar Corporation, Protection Mutual Insurance Company, the
Greater Milwaukee Committee, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of
Commerce, and the National Association of Manufacturers. Profile
Mr. O'Toole: First of all, A.O. Smith is a 125 year old company that
has undergone a significant transition during the
