Warren Anderson (1921-2014) was an American businessman who was the chairman and chief executive officer of the chemical company Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) at the time of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.
Wiki/Biography
Warren Martin Anderson was born on Tuesday, November 29, 1921, in Brooklyn, New York, USA (died at age 92). Growing up, he helped his father, a carpenter, install floors and deliver newspapers. Brooklyn Eagle. He received academic and athletic scholarships to Colgate University in New York, where he majored in chemistry. While working for Union Carbide, he earned a law degree in 1956 from Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland, Ohio. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius.
family and race
Parents and siblings
His parents were Swedish immigrants who lived in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York City. His father worked as a carpenter in Brooklyn.
wife and children
His wife’s name is Lillian Anderson. They have no children.
Profession
Early Career and Joining Union Carbide
After graduating in 1942, he joined the Navy and trained as a fighter pilot, but he never saw combat. He played football for a Navy team coached by the famous Bear Bryant. After his discharge, he visited various chemical companies and accepted the first job offered to him, which happened to be at Union Carbide. He began his career in sales and eventually managed operations in Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. He has held positions in the company’s chemicals, plastics, gas, metals and carbon divisions.
Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson inspects Bhopal plant
Anderson worked hard throughout his life to rise through the ranks at Union Carbide. Before the accident, his main concern was that the company wasn’t making as much money as they expected. In 1979, when he became president and chief operating officer, the company believed their sales would reach $13 billion by 1983. But they only made about $9 billion, and profits fell by more than 90%.
When he became chairman and CEO in 1982, he improved the company’s efficiency, increased sales, and acquired several other companies, including STP Oil Company. After this, Union Carbide began to gain a reputation as a polluter. Before the tragedy, Anderson was responsible for 700 plants in more than 30 countries.
1984 Bhopal gas tragedy
On the night of December 2 to 3, 1984, a chemical accident occurred at the Union Carbide Limited (UCIL) pesticide factory in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. More than 500,000 people in the towns surrounding the factory were exposed to highly toxic methyl gas. Isocyanates (MIC). The tragedy is considered one of the world’s deadliest industrial accidents. More than 500,000 people were injured and more than 3,000 people died from diseases such as lung cancer, kidney failure and liver disease.
Indian photojournalist Raghu Rai’s famous photo “Burying an Unknown Child” became an icon of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy
The disaster was reportedly caused by poor management and delayed maintenance. Anderson, the UCC chief executive, was charged with culpable homicide and an FIR was lodged against him at the Hanumanganj police station in Bhopal. Four days after the accident, he reached Bhopal and was immediately arrested. On the same day, he was released on bail, escorted to Delhi on a government plane and allowed to leave the country. He never returned to India to face trial. He allegedly escaped extradition with the support of the US government. In 1987, the CBI filed charges against Anderson and 11 other defendants, including UCC (USA), Union Carbide (Eastern) Hong Kong and UCIL. In February 1989, the CJM, Bhopal issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Anderson for repeatedly ignoring summons. That same year, Union Carbide paid $470 million to the Indian government to settle the lawsuit. However, many people in India, encouraged by politicians and news media, have never stopped urging Anderson to be prosecuted. Warrants for his arrest were regularly issued. In April 2002, survivors of the tragedy staged a month-long protest in Derry against the watering down of the charges against Anderson.
In October 2004, demonstrations were held in New Delhi calling for the extradition of Warren Anderson
In August 2009, an Indian court issued an arrest warrant for former executive Warren M. Anderson and ordered the Indian government to pressure Washington to extradite him. Union Carbide defended him, saying managers at the company’s Bhopal plant could not have anticipated the gas leak.
Retirement and old age
He evaded multiple summonses from Indian courts by living quietly and moving between his home in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Vero Beach, Connecticut, and Bridgehampton, New York. He spent his later years gardening and fishing with his wife. He also bakes Swedish bread following an old family recipe.
die
Warren Anderson died in a nursing home in Vero Beach, Florida, USA on September 29, 2014 at the age of 92. At the time, he was wanted in India in connection with the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy. Before his death, the Indian government made multiple requests for his extradition and officially classified him as a fugitive. An Indian judge also called him an absconder. His death was not announced by his family until an article appeared in Vero Beach 32963, a weekly magazine covering the Vero Beach barrier island, which brought the incident to the attention of the public.
Facts/Trivia
- His parents named him after then-President Warren G. Harding.
- A 1984 Times article reported that the paperweight on Anderson’s desk quoted his favorite Chinese proverb:
A leader is best when people barely know he exists. “
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education