Charles A. Thomas

Charles Allen Thomas (1900-1982) was an American chemist and industrial executive who worked at General Motors before co-founding Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories in 1926, which was acquired by Monsanto in 1936; he went on to serve as Monsanto president and later chairman. During the Manhattan Project he coordinated plutonium purification work and contributed to development of the polonium-beryllium neutron initiator. He held more than 100 patents, and under his leadership Monsanto annual sales grew from 34 million to 1.9 billion dollars.