How the Vice Chairman of Ford Led the Auto Industry as a Gay Man
Photo courtesy of Christian Harrison
Allan Gilmour is the former Vice Chairman of Ford Motor Company and former President of Wayne State University. Although currently retired, he continues to support local organizations and has been an active member of the LGBTQ+ community.
LTA: Could you introduce yourself and explain what you do?
My name is Allan Gilmour. I’m a Phillips Exeter Academy Alumnus from the class of 1952, and I am currently retired. I was Vice Chairman of Ford Motor Company, and I was on a number of corporate boards. I was also Chairman of Henry Ford Health System and Chairman of Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan, but both ended several years ago. I also served as the President of Wayne State University because my predecessor was ushered out suddenly. I was at Wayne State for 35 months in total. Since then, my only active engagement has been with the Community Foundation. I’m still on its board and a bunch of committees.
LTA: Can you tell us a little about your career and work experience?
I worked for Ford until 1995 and then again from 2002-2005. After, I went back to the nonprofit world. I was the chairman of the Community Foundation when, suddenly, I was asked to be President of Wayne State University. It is the third largest state university in Michigan, located in Detroit, and has about 28,000 students. I had always thought being a university president was about the worst job in the world because you have so many constituents, all of whom are loud, and pushy, but Wayne State does not have major league athletics, so I didn’t have to worry about sins and scandals there. I liked the job, and it was fun. You convince yourself that, if these young people come along in the next few years, the world will not go to hell. In fact, we will leave behind plenty of work for the next generation or two to do. I was at Wayne for about three years, but I had run out of gas. I had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and I had lost a lot of energy. It was time for me to go, and so I retired, and here I am.
LTA: How has being an LGBT+ person impacted your life and career?
Some time after I came out as gay, Ford Motor Company was experiencing some difficulties, so I returned in early 2002 as Vice Chairman to help get things back on track. Bill Ford said to me, “No board member ever mentioned the fact that you were gay when we were talking about bringing you back.” In hindsight, think that probably means that they did talk about it earlier when I was a candidate for CEO. At Ford, for over 30 years, I was closeted. There were rumors, I’m sure. A reporter once asked me “Are you married?”, and I said, “I’m married to Ford Motor Company.” After I retired in 1995, I gave an interview with Between the Lines, the local gay and lesbian newspaper. As the interviewer left, she said “You know, sometimes the mainstream media picks up what we’re doing.” I thought to myself, ‘That’s not gonna happen to me. I’m no longer the Vice Chairman of Ford Motor Company, and they’re not gonna worry about me.’ I ended up on the front pages of the Detroit papers and local TV.. Thankfully, the organizations and charities I was associated with provided good support. After I came out, I became much more involved in the local LGBT+ community, through both donations and engagement.
LTA: Do you think the LGBT+ experience has changed from the time you grew up in? Are you proud of the strides the community has made, or are you disappointed as someone from an older generation?
For us older people, we look back and think enormous progress has been made. For younger people, they look ahead and say enormous progress needs to be made. And both are right. Things are much better compared to how they were 30-40 years ago, but I think now we should focus on the noisy people who are attacking what we have achieved and making it harder to achieve anything else. Here in Michigan, for example, we are one of the 30 some states where you can be fired for being gay. We don’t even have non-discrimination housing here, I think. We have plenty of things that we can must work on, and changing the law alone isn’t going to do it. It’s about attitude and respect. The word “love” comes in here, doesn’t it? Having a good attitude doesn’t mean that I have to love all my neighbors, especially when they complain, but it does mean that I have to respect all kinds of people. Knowing this, we’ve still got a lot of work to do.
LTA: What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the LGBT community right now, and how do you suggest we solve that problem?
Be ready to counter various attacks, whether they be in law or in practice. We don’t want to regress. That’s the #1 task for us right now. Going forward, we need to improve the things we’ve fought for in the past. So first, don’t lose, but second, on the whole array of issues, just keep pushing. Will it be a straight line of success? No. It will be a crooked line because there will be steps forward and steps back. In the long run, we’ll succeed, but the long run sometimes seems a long way away.
LTA: What advice do you have for LGBT+ youth who wish to venture into the world of corporate America? How should they navigate that world?
I think one thing to be aware of right at the beginning, as a person looks at various employers, is to see how accepting they are. Read what policies they have or don’t have. It’s also important to consider the attitude and the atmosphere of a workplace. Afterward, wherever you are and whoever you may be, do the work. An employer is going to be a lot more interested in the content you produce than who you are. Now, if you want to be an activist, you will probably lose a little bit of reputation for your work because of the time it takes, and that’s a decision you have to make. I’m not saying that there’s a right or wrong choice. Each person should choose whatever feels right for them.
LTA: What advice do you have for people in your generation as they move through the world? How should they support younger people who are trying to face the world of corporate America?
I think there are two main things we can do. Firstly, support organizations that support younger people. I don’t know if I was ever a mentor, but I was definitely mentored. Also, be an active helper, on a one-on-one basis or a group basis, whichever works. Secondly, partly because I just like this word, be a mentor wherever possible, and set an example for others.
LTA: If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would that be?
That’s a good question, and I don’t know that I have an answer. I am not a believer, and never have been, in looking back and saying “I wish I had ____.” You could say to me “if you had changed your mind, or if you had been more involved with this or that, would you have been a happier person now?” Maybe, but if I had decided to do X, I wouldn’t be doing Y. I just don’t go back and say “I wish.” I do wish that I had known sooner that I was gay, but I don’t think that would have made a big difference. Indeed, I don’t look back and say I wish I had done something different. Now, let me ask this question. Do I wish I had become head of Ford Motor Company? Yes, but if I had, I would’ve retired at age 65, so I would’ve had the job for only 5 or 6 years. I’m delighted with the opportunities I’ve had.
LTA: What are your plans for the future?
There are a lot of things that I wish I could do now, but let me tell you my qualifications. I’m 84 years old, so I have good experience and maturity. I’m well rested because I sleep in the morning until 10:30, and I have good energy between 3 and 5 in the afternoon. Now if you find a job that will meet my criteria, let me know because not a single employer has called me yet!
Written by Maureena Murphy
Edited by Justin Li
January 2019