Ford Faqs

Allan Gilmour, retired vice chairman, Ford Motor Company, and Jeffrey Cook, technical leader, Ford Research and Advanced Engineering were awarded the Distinguished Service Citation by the Automotive Hall of Fame at its annual awards luncheon during the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) conference.

This Distinguished Service Citation is one of four awards presented annually by the Automotive Hall of Fame. The Citation was created to honor individuals who are still actively employed or recently retired from the auto industry who have made significant contributions to their respective companies or the industry at large.

Gilmour, a protégé of Whiz Kid Ed Lundy, began his career with Ford in 1960 as a Finance Staff financial analyst. He retired in 1995 as vice chairman and member of the company’s board of directors. In 2002, at the request of Bill Ford, executive chairman, Gilmour rejoined the company as vice chairman until his second retirement in February 2005.

Gilmour served a variety of roles in the company including president of the Ford Automotive Group, executive vice president, International Automotive Operations and vice president, External and Personnel Affairs. His previous jobs with financial duties included chief financial officer, vice president and controller, and president of Ford Motor Credit Company.

Jeff Cook began working at Ford in 1976 on high-temperature gas turbine engines at the Research and Innovation Center, then known as the Scientific Research Laboratory. Cook’s ongoing research and work in powertrain controls over the years has improved emissions and fuel economy in production vehicles and has laid the groundwork for further advances in gasoline powertrain control systems.

With 54 worldwide patents and 45 technical publications, Cook is credited with devising ground-breaking methods in model-based control system development for the automotive industry. Other Ford employees who have received this honor in the past include: Henry Ford II, Don Petersen, Harold Poling, Jim O’Connor, Robert Rewey, Ross Roberts, Anne Stevens and Jack Telnack.