Sir Ernest Woodroofe (6 January 1912 - 31 March 2002) was chairman of Unilever from 1970 to 1974, when the company was the second largest in the world, outside of America.

[5] In 1935, Professor Whiddington introduced Woodroofe to his cousin, Herbert Davis, at Anglo-Dutch consumer goods company Unilever, which had been formed in 1930.

Woodroofe's first roles were in product development, specifically measuring the efficiency of equipment, and transportation management at Loders and Nucoline, Unilever's seed-crushing and oil refining subsidiary in Silvertown, London.

In 1944, at the age of 32, Woodroofe moved to Gourock in Renfrewshire, Scotland, to manage four loss-making factories for British Oil and Cake Mills, Unilever's animal feeds arm.

His memorial service was held at the Banqueting House, Whitehall, where Niall FitzGerald, the then chairman of Unilever, paid tribute.