Whiz Kids (Ford)

The Whiz Kids were a group of ten United States Army Air Forces veterans of World War II who became Ford Motor Company executives in 1946.

Henry Ford II had recently taken over the company from his ailing grandfather and, needing management help badly, agreed.

They instituted modern recruitment and training programs and career planning, aimed to provide Ford Motors with a pool of financial talent.

Thornton left Ford in 1948 due to personality conflicts with executives Ernie Breech and Lewis Crusoe, moving on to Hughes Aircraft, and later was head of Litton Industries.

McNamara went on to become the United States Secretary of Defense under President John F. Kennedy, and the team he built there inherited the "Whiz Kids" name and carried on a similar ethos of operations research.