William K. Coors was born August 11, 1916 in Golden, Colorado. His grandfather, Adolph Coors, was the founder of the Coors Brewing Company. Coors attended Philips Exeter Academy, and then Princeton, before taking over Coors’s porcelain business. During the Manhattan Project, Coors helped construct and supply the high-quality ceramic insulators that were used in the Y-12 Plant at Oak Ridge, TN. Coors continued on to a long career in the company, serving as Chairman from 1961 to 2003. He is known for developing the recyclable aluminum cans that are now used throughout the industry.
William K. Coors
Head of Coors Porcelain CompanyGolden, CO
Y-12 Plant
Manhattan Project Veteran
Listen to William K. Coors’s Oral History on Voices of the Manhattan Project
William K. Coors’s Timeline
1916 Aug 11th Born in Golden, Colorado.
1938 Graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor’s Degree in chemical engineering.
1942 Starts supplying ceramic insulators to the Manhattan Project.
1961 Begins serving as Chairman of the Coors Brewing Company.
2003 Steps down as Chairman, but continues to serve as Chief Technical Advisor.
2018 Oct 13th Died at the age of 102.