James Gayley

James Gayley (October 11, 1855 – February 25, 1920) was an American chemist and steel metallurgist who served as managing director of the Carnegie Steel Company, and as the first vice president of U.S. Steel from 1901 to 1908. He is credited with many inventions which greatly improved the fields of steel and iron making. For his contributions in the field of metallurgy, he was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal in 1909, and the Perkin Medal in 1913.

Early life Gayley was born on October 11, 1855, in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, to Samuel and Agnes Gayley; Samuel was a Presbyterian minister who emigrated to the United States from Ireland at around 1840. He entered Lafayette College at age 16, where he graduated with a degree in mining engineering in 1876.

Career Gayley spent much of his early career working at various iron and steel companies throughout the northern United States. He began his career working for the Crane Iron Company as a chemist, a position he held for three years with an annual salary of $500. After leaving he spent two and a half years as a superintendent at the Missouri Furnace Company. Gayley left this job to assume a management position at the E&G Brooke Iron Company in Birdsboro, where he worked for another three years. Another was a compound condensing blowing engine to force more air into blast furnaces, enhancing combustion. and by 1897 became the managing director of the Carnegie Steel Company.

Gayley was closely connected with Carnegie for much of his professional life, and was part of Carnegie's board of managers during the final years of Carnegie Steel. Gayley served in this capacity until his resignation in 1908 due to illness.

Memberships Gayley became a member of the AIME in 1880. Between 1896 and 1905, he acquired the positions of manager, vice president and president successively. He then assumed the role as president of the Board of Directors from 1905 to 1911. Gayley stayed on the board as a director until 1913.