Rathbone joined Standard Oil of New Jersey in 1921 as a design engineer at the Baton Rouge refinery of Standard Oil of Louisiana. In 1923, he was promoted to the operations division of Louisiana Standard as an experimental engineer. In 1924, he was named assistant to the general superintendent. In 1926, he became general superintendent, then assistant general manager and vice president. In 1944, he was appointed president and director of Standard 's new Esso Division. In 1949, he was named to the board of directors of the parent Standard Oil Company. In 1953, Rathbone was named president of Standard Oil of New Jersey, and in 1959 he was named CEO. In 1962, he was elected chairman of the board of directors of Standard Oil of New Jersey. He retired in 1965.[2]
He served on the boards of directors for many other major corporations, including Bethlehem Steel, American Telephone and Telegraph, and Prudential Insurance, and on such private groups as the Deafness Research Foundation, the National Fund for Medical Education, and the Council for Financial Aid to Education.
He was active in the Lehigh Alumni Association, serving as board chairman and president; was board chairman of the American Petroleum Institute and a director of Junior Achievement. During World War II, he served on President Roosevelt's Business Council.
Personal life
Rathbone was married in 1922 to Eleanor Groves, and had two children - Eleanor Virginia and Dr. Monroe Jackson Rathbone III. Jackson Rathbone is Rathbone's great-grandson.
^ abSaxon, Wolfgang. "Monroe J. Rathbone Dies at 76; Former Exxon Chief Executive", The New York Times, August 3, 1976. Accessed March 15, 2016. "Monroe Jackson Rathbone, retired board chairman and chief executive officer of the Exxon Corporation and one of the most important figures in the history of the oil industry, died yesterday at General Hospital in Baton Rouge, La. He was 76 years old."
