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United States Department of Defense portrait photograph of David Packard. Author Department of Defense Historical Office Public Affairs.

Top 10 Facts about David Packard

David Packard is a household name in the world. He is one-half of the oldest and largest employers in California’s high-tech region known as Silicon Valley. He was the co-founder and a longtime executive officer of Hewlett-Packard Company, a leading manufacturer of electronic measuring devices, calculators, and computers. On the political front, he also served as deputy secretary of defense under President Richard Nixon and was a major benefactor to many philanthropic organizations.

1. David Packard Is A Household Name In The World

Stanford University in California. Author Tobias Haase.

David Packard was born September 7, 1912, in Pueblo, Colorado, the son of a lawyer and a high school teacher. He avidly read library books on science and electricity, and built his first radio while still in elementary school. A brilliant student, after graduating from his local public high school, Packard enrolled as an electrical engineering student at Stanford University in California. There he met William Hewlett, a fellow student who shared his interest in electronics and the out-of-doors. It is said that in college he was a varsity athlete and president of his fraternity. He received a B.A. with honors in 1934.

His working life started in Schenectady, New York, where he worked in the vacuum tube engineering department of General Electric Company. Being an ambitious young man he returned to Stanford in 1938 to study the theory of the vacuum tube. That year he also married Lucile Salter of San Francisco, whom he had met at Stanford; the Packards had four children.

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2. Packard Ran One Of The First And Largest Electronics Companies In The Region of California

Electronics. Photo by Cova Software on

During World War II Hewlett-Packard expanded rapidly to meet the needs of various defense projects. Packard ran the company alone, as Hewlett was in the U.S. Army. However, business declined sharply at the end of the war forcing the company to lay off employees for the only time in Packard’s career. There was resurgence in 1950’s and the company’s stock began to trade on the open market.

Hewlett-Packard was one of the first and largest electronics companies in the region of California now called Silicon Valley. It gradually expanded its sales force from a handful of representatives into a national and then an international network. Manufacturing facilities also extended out of California, not only to Colorado and Oregon but to Europe, South America, and Asia. At the same time, staff trained at Hewlett-Packard came to have important posts at other electronics firms. For example, Stephen Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, first worked at Hewlett-Packard.

With Packard as manager and Hewlett as technical expert, Hewlett-Packard followed conservative but unconventional business practices. Profits were reinvested in the company so that debt was low. Following General Electric’s example, the company preferred to hire employees directly out of school. Staff received generous benefits, were entrusted with considerable responsibility, and rarely were fired. Hewlett and Packard set general objectives, assisted those who carried them out, and chose not to flaunt their wealth and power. Engineering, sales, and management were done by men, while women did much of the actual assembly work. Emphasis was on high quality, not low price. To retain the atmosphere of a small business when the staff came to number thousands, Hewlett and Packard divided the company according to product types, with each division having its own marketing, production, and research groups. Support functions such as sales and advertising often were handled by outside contractors.

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3. In The First Year In Business, They Sold Over $5,300 Worth Of Devices

Workout Bench. Photo by Andrew Valdivia on

Some of Hewlett-Packard’s first sales were for products such as a weight-reducing device, an electronic harmonica tuner, and a foul-line alarm for bowling alleys. In the first year in business, they sold over $5,300 worth of devices; some delivered by borrowing a friend’s fruit-business truck, and made a profit of $1,653.

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4. In Addition To His Business Activities, Packard Took An Active Interest In Civic Affairs

In addition to his business activities, Packard played an active role in civic affairs. From 1948 until 1956 he chaired the Palo Alto School Board; he also gave money to the Republican Party. In 1964 he founded the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in Los Altos, California, to support universities, national institutions, community groups, youth agencies, hospitals, and other organizations that are dependent on private funding and volunteer leadership. He also served as president and chairman of the foundation.

In 1971 Packard returned to his post at Hewlett-Packard. Even after he retired from direct administration in 1977, he continued as chairman of the board. He also served on the boards of directors of corporations such as Caterpillar Tractor Co. (1972-83), Chevron Corp. (1972-85), The Boeing Co. (1978-86), Genentech Inc. (1981-92), and Beckman Laser Institute& Medical Clinic (1992-96).

 From his extensive resume he was also a trustee of the Herbert Hoover Foundation and of the American Enterprise Institute, conservative research groups. He was a member of The Trilateral Commission from 1973 to 1981 and chaired the U.S.-Japan Advisory Commission from 1983 to 1985. In 1985 he was appointed by President Reagan to chair the Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management. He also was a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology from 1990 to 1992 and founding vice chairman of the California Roundtable.

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5. He Was Also A Philanthropist

In addition to his own foundation, Packard held top positions in many philanthropic organizations. He was chairman of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation; chairman and president of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research; vice chairman of the California Nature Conservancy in 1983; and director of the Wolf Trap Foundation in Vienna, Virginia, a society dedicated to the performing arts, from 1983 to 1989.

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6. He Held Several Patents In The Area Of Electronics Measurement

Electronic. Photo by Blaz Erzetic on .

His work in Electronics paid off as he held several patents in the area of electronics measurement and published papers in that field. He also received honorary degrees from Pepperdine University, University of Notre Dame, Colorado College, the University of California, Catholic University, and elsewhere. In addition, he also received numerous awards in his lifetime for both his contributions to technology and for his philanthropic work including: The Gandhi Humanitarian Award in 1988, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988, and induction into the Information Industry Hall of Fame, (presented jointly to Packard and Hewlett) in 1996.

7. His Management Style Was Unique

HP Headquarters. Author LPS.1.

Packard’s management style was very unique giving him lasting fame. Early on, he and Hewlett ran their company based on some rather benevolent principles. “The HP Way,” as it became known, meant a corporate environment with no doors; neither Hewlett nor Packard had his own office. It also meant decentralized decision-making, and a structure that kept their thousands of employees organized into self-sufficient divisions, each with its own research and development, financial, and marketing systems. Profits were always reinvested, and when economics necessitated layoffs at other companies.

Indeed, employee loyalty was Hewlett-Packard’s greatest asset. Firings were rare; the benefits package generous, morale high, and turnover low. As a result, Packard and Hewlett created an environment where creativity could flourish. Employees were encouraged to tinker with any product on anyone’s desk, and equipment rooms were left unlocked. Sales personnel were forbidden from saying anything negative about competitors to customers. Packard was awarded an honorary degree in jest by his staff: “M.B.W.A”—Master by Wandering Around.

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8. He Created The David And Lucile Packard Center For The Future of Children

 In January 1989 he created the David and Lucile Packard Center for the Future of Children as a part of his foundation. The center was established to target the health and social problems of minority children under seven years old. Packard felt the center was perhaps the most important aspect of his foundation.

9. He Served As Deputy Secretary of Defense

 Packard’s successes with his own company and ties to the Republican Party was key to him being  given a political appointment When California Republican Richard M. Nixon was elected president in 1968, he chose Packard for his Deputy Secretary of Defense under Defense Secretary Melvin Laird. It was thought that he was the best business mind to manage its $80 billion budget.

However, his nomination was seen as a conflict of interest and received much publicity. Packard’s only term in public office to date had been on the Palo Alto School Board. Critics also pointed out that he was a generous contributor to the Republican Party.

10. His Foundation Was The Beneficiary of His Fortunes

 In September 1993, Packard retired as chairman of the board at Hewlett-Packard and was named chairman emeritus, a position he held until his death at the age of 83. His entire $6.6 billion fortune was given to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, making it one of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations.

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