David A. Bossen was born in Clinton, Iowa on January 9, 1927. He was 12 years old when his father died and so he started working at the Clinton Post Office and at age 14 rode shotgun when they drove the bank deposits to Chicago. In 1950, he married Doris Stephens.
Bossen served in the U.S. Marine Corps (1945-46) and received a fleet appointment to the U. S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD (1946-49). He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in electrical engineering from M.I.T ca. 1951. Later, he worked for Alcoa as Industrial Engineer (1948-51) then as VP & GM for Industrial Nucleonics (AccuRay) (1952-67) which was later bought by Combustion Engineering and then in turn was acquired by ABB.
In 1968, Bossen founded Measurex Corporation and was at its helm until 1997. This was a revolutionary period for the paper industry, since prior to this time few paper machines were equipped with on-line measurement sensors and control systems. The technology developed by Measurex led to improved paper quality, reduced paper losses, better machine efficiency, energy savings and optimized use of raw materials.
Bossen was so confident of his technology that he offered a “Results Guarantee” of 99% uptime operation. Hence, as the “Results Company”, Measurex grew rapidly installing over 3,000 paper machine control systems worldwide by 1988. Today, close to 100% of paper machines use on-line control systems benefitting from technologies developed by Measurex (and subsequently by others) that allow paper machines to operate efficiently.
Bossen was also an innovator and a leader. He surrounded himself with the most outstanding personnel that he could find, across a wide array of disciplines. He followed an intensely involved, hands-on management approach and treated his employees as family. This led to a company that the employees called “an amazing culture”.
Measurex was acquired by Honeywell in 1997. Bossen had served Measurex as CEO and then Chairman of the Board until 1997. He retired in 2000 as “Chairman Emeritus”. He was a TAPPI Fellow, a member of PIMA, and a member of American Electronics Association. He had 19 patents to his credits.
David Bossen died on April 21, 2015 at his home in Menlo Park, California at the age of 88. He was preceded in death by his first wife of 40 year, Doris, and his daughter Julie Ayerza. He is survived by his second wife of 24 years, Darlene, three daughters, one son, nine grandchildren and one great-grandson.
