Frank G. Atkinson*

Frank G. Atkinson, who eventually became chairman and president of the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, began as an office boy. As he advanced in his career, young Atkinson realized he needed a formal education. He studied at home and attended night classes at Rutgers and New York University. He later taught night classes in industrial management at a Rutgers extension school.

Atkinson's management abilities earned him higher positions, and 40 years after he joined the company, he was named president. The Joseph Dixon Crucible Company, which merged with another company in 1982, was known as "the house that graphite built" because almost everything it made was based on the mineral graphite. Dixon's Ticonderoga pencil achieved worldwide recognition.