The Nucor Corporation family mourns the loss of former CEO and Chairman Dave Aycock, who passed away on Saturday, June 7, at the age of 94. Aycock, along with Ken Iverson and Sam Siegel, led Nucor’s transformation into one of the world’s leading steelmakers.
Aycock rose within the company from his start as a welder in 1954 to President and Chief Operating Officer in 1984. He retired in 1991 and continued to serve on Nucor’s board of directors. Aycock returned to the executive management team in 1998 to serve as Chairman, and, in 1999 and 2000, during an important transition period for the company, he assumed the responsibilities of President and CEO. During that time, he implemented several key initiatives, including a process for selecting the next CEO. He retired from the board in 2001.
As a team, Iverson, Siegel, and Aycock revolutionized American steelmaking by building the company on a recycling-based production process, as opposed to utilizing blast furnaces which was the dominant production process at the time. In 1969, Nucor began operating its first steel minimill in Darlington, South Carolina. The recycling-based process started in Darlington now accounts for more than 70 percent of the steel production in the United States, making America one of the cleanest places in the world to make steel.
Courtesy of Nucor Corporation.