Roger Milliken, American textile executive (Milliken & Co.) died he was , 95

 Roger Milliken  was a U.S. textile heir and businessman whose grandfather, Seth Milliken, co-founded a small textile company, Deering Milliken Company, in Portland, Maine, in 1865  died he was , 95. The company is today known as Milliken & Co.. In its early days, the company acquired financially strapped cotton mills as well as failed department stores, which eventually merged into the Mercantile Stores Company, Inc. In 1884, Deering Milliken Company invested in its first property near Spartanburg, South Carolina, where the company's headquarters have been based since 1958.
Milliken attended Yale University, where he studied French history. He graduated in 1937.

(October 24, 1915 – December 30, 2010)

Career

Roger started out in New York City’s Mercantile Stores, in which his family had an ownership stake. There he made the rounds of suppliers, seeing to it that coats and suits ordered by the stores were delivered. One of his jobs there was to pin up the hems of women’s coats. In 1941, he was given the stewardship of three small woolen-producing mills in Maine. When his father, Gerrish, died in 1947, the 32-year-old Milliken succeeded him as president.^[1]

In 1976, Deering Milliken Company changed its named to Milliken & Co., since the company's co-founder, William Deering, had moved onto other business ventures shortly after the company's original inception. Today Milliken & Co. is the largest privately-held textile & chemical manufacturing firm in the world, with 50 manufacturing facilities in seven countries. The firm has approximately 9,000 employees and has over 2,000 patents it has developed over the years.
The firm grew through product innovation and development as well as superior customer service. Milliken, who resided in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is known for the millions of dollars he donated to the Republican Party over many years as well as his fierce opposition to unionization. However, his unfailing commitment to manufacture products in America put him at odds with free trade Republicans and caused him to join with United States trade unions to protect U.S. workers. He initiated the "Made with Pride in the USA" programs in the 1990s. He served as president of his company until 1983, when he transitioned into the dual roles of chairman and CEO. He resigned from his duties as CEO in January 2006 at age 90, but remained the active role of chairman until his death.

Philanthropy/Awards

In 1999, Milliken established the Noble Tree Foundation to encourage the planting of enduring and beautiful trees, particularly in rundown or overlooked corners of the Greenville-Spartanburg area and at traffic interchanges. In 2004, Milliken received the Frederick Law Olmsted Award, one of the highest honors bestowed by the National Arbor Day Foundation. With his help, the entire Wofford College campus was declared a National Arboretum, later named for him. The science center at the Spartanburg college also sports his name. He was the only chairman of the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport Commission from its inception in 1959 until his death, and he was instrumental in the founding of Spartanburg Day School in 1957.^[2]
Textile World Magazine named him its "leader of the century" in 1999. Mr. Milliken was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2000. That same year, Milliken donated $5 millon of the $14.5 million needed to construct the Milliken Science Center, which opened on the campus of Wofford College in 2001. This state-of-the-art facility was an expansion and partial renovation of a prior science building on the campus also named for his generosity. In 2004, Wofford College announced the creation of a faculty award^[3] named after Milliken, and in 2008 celebrated its first annual Roger Milliken Day^[4] while also bestowing him the title of Trustee Emeritus.

Political affiliations/activities

According to Brian Doherty of Reason magazine, Milliken "was one of the earliest and most fervent supporters" of libertarian activist Robert LeFevre, and "used to require high execs in his Deering-Milliken company to take LeFevre classes."^[5] He also served on the board of the Foundation for Economic Education, "the first modern libertarian educational institution."^[5]
In addition to his devotion to libertarian causes, Milliken was also active in the conservative movement. He donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to conservative politicians and political action committees including Sharp Pencil PAC,^[6] Bob Barr Leadership Fund, Peace Through Strength PAC,^[7] Fund for America's Future,^[8] and Freedom's Defense Fund.^{[9][10] [11]}
Milliken supported Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign in 1964 and helped to persuade South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond to leave the Democratic Party.^[12] He also served as one of three industrial advisers to 1996 Presidential campaign of Patrick J. Buchanan. In the 2000 election, when Buchanan ran as the Reform Party Presidential candidate, Milliken raised a significant proportion of the campaign's total funds.^[13] Like Buchanan, Milliken was a vocal critic of free trade, opposing NAFTA, GATT, and the WTO as well as most favored nation status and permanent normal trade relations with China.^[12] In the 2008 presidential campaign, Milliken backed California congressman Duncan Hunter. Hunter campaigned in opposition to illegal immigration and in support of economic protectionism, as Buchanan did before.
Milliken opposed segregation even at a time when it was universally accepted throughout the South. In the 1960s, he "urged Wofford College to integrate its student body and promised to make up for any financial losses if it took the step."^[12]

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