Robert Gilmour LeTourneau

Who He Is

Robert Gilmour LeTourneau was born in Richford, Vermont, on November 30, 1888. He left school after sixth grade and worked various manual labor jobs, including at an iron foundry, as an auto mechanic, and as a welder. Without formal engineering training, he had an exceptional talent for looking at a problem and inventing a machine to solve it. After repairing a Holt tractor for a California rancher and being hired to use it for leveling 40 acres of land, LeTourneau found his true calling: moving dirt. He started a small land-leveling business in Stockton, California, and soon realized that existing earthmoving equipment was slow, inefficient, and unreliable. So he began building his own.

Why He Matters

Known throughout the construction industry as "The Dean of Earthmoving," LeTourneau is regarded as one of the greatest inventors of earthmoving and materials-handling equipment in history. He held nearly 300 patents during his career, including designs for the bulldozer blade, scrapers, electric-drive wheel motors, portable cranes, and mobile offshore oil platforms. He was the first to put rubber tires on heavy earthmoving equipment, replacing steel wheels that struggled in soft terrain. During World War II, his factories produced 70 percent of all the earthmoving equipment used by the Allied forces, including over 14,000 bulldozers and 10,000 scrapers. This equipment enabled the rapid construction of roads, airstrips, and military bases across Europe, Africa, and Asia. LeTourneau also founded what is now LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas, to provide engineering and technical education. His story shows that formal education isn't the only way to achieve extraordinary success; curiosity, persistence, and a willingness to build what doesn't yet exist can revolutionize an entire industry.