2005
Lifetime Design Achievement Award presented
to Chuck Jordan, VP of Design GM, ret.
It will probably not be a surprise to the automotive industry that the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology (DIO) will honor Charles (Chuck) Jordan with its 2005 EyesOn Design Lifetime Design Achievement Award. The surprise may be in gaining a better understanding of the passion and creativity behind Jordan who first won a sectional award for building scale models in 7th grade and then went on to pioneer 43 years of design leadership with General Motors. Jordan will receive the honor at the DIO sponsored Vision Honored Automotive Design Awards event at 6:00 p.m. on June 25th at the GM Heritage Center in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
“We are pleased to honor Chuck Jordan for all he has done to advance automotive design, said Philip C. Hessburg, MD, president, Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology. “Since our first EyesOn Design car show, we have featured many of Chuck Jordan’s designs. Chuck was one of the founders of the EyesOn Design event.”
Jordan, who joined the automotive giant in 1949 and retired in 1992 as the vice president of design, loved automotive design from the time he was in grade school. He was born in Whittier, California, in 1927. He graduated with honors from Fullerton (California) High School in 1945, and enrolled in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied engineering and design.
While at MIT, Jordan entered the General Motors Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild model car competition where he garnered the top national award plus a $4,000 scholarship. He impressed the GM Styling team which was under the direction of Harley Earl and accepted an offer to join the GM Styling team upon his graduation in 1949 as a junior designer.
Jordan has influenced the designs of numerous vehicle programs including the first-ever concept minivan in the early 1950s and a series of handsome and successful vehicles in the early 1990s including the GM Ultralite, the new Camero/Firebird, the 1992 Cadillac STS and Eldorado, the Sting Ray III and the Oldsmobile Aurora.
“It is a great honor to be recognized by EyesOn Design,” said Jordan. “From its beginning, ‘Eyes’ has been a very special celebration of automotive design. EyesOn Design is not only an exciting event each year, but also an important fund raiser for the programs of the DIO. Everyone knows, design is not a one man activity. I am pleased to accept this award on behalf of all the talented individuals and creative design teams with whom I have worked over the years at GM. These people are still the best.”
Jordan’s mantra of “no dull cars” and his spirited management style has touched the lives and careers of hundreds of colleagues who regard him as passionate and intense with outstanding design judgment.
“Chuck Jordan is a legend in the automotive design world,” said Ed Welburn, vice president of design, General Motors. “Those of us who are fortunate enough to have worked with him regard his passion, creativity and perseverance for designing great cars as inspiration for us to reach beyond what we think is possible.”
Jordan’s professional resume reflects the depth and breadth of his experience. At 26 he was named chief designer of GM special products studio. He was appointed Cadillac chief designer in 1957 and in 1962 became the executive in charge of automotive design responsible for all GM car and truck exteriors.
In 1962, Life magazine selected Jordan as one of the 100 “most important young men and women in the United States.”
From 1967 to 1970, Jordan was design director for Adam Opel AG, a GM subsidiary in West Germany. Upon his return to the U.S. he was appointed executive in charge of automotive exterior design. Jordan was named Director of Design in 1977 and then Vice-President-Design from 1986 until his retirement in November 1992.
Jordan has received the Distinguished Service Citation from the Automotive Hall of Fame; an Honorary Doctorate from the Art Center College of Design and the Wally B. Ford Award from the Center for Creative Studies.
Jordan is an Honorary Judge at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance each year since 1970 and is a Life Member of the California Scholastic Federation. He often judges at EyesOn Design.
Jordan is married, has three children and now lives in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Since retirement, he spends his time with his grandchildren, teaching vehicle design at his local high school, working with his Ferraris, promoting creativity in automobile design around the world and writing a design column for Sports Car International.
