Philip D. Reed; Former General Electric Chairman

Philip D. Reed, 89, a former General Electric Co. chairman who served in a series of assignments for the federal government during World War II. Reed, who joined GE in 1926, became a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York after retiring from the firm in 1958. He became GE chairman in 1926 and chairman of the board in 1939. Among the posts he held during World War II, when he left the company temporarily, was chief of the U.S. Mission for Economic Affairs in London. After the war, he led the company’s conversion back to production of consumer goods from the manufacture of military equipment. Following his retirement, Reed spent seven years at the Federal Reserve Bank, six as chairman, and also served on the boards of numerous other companies. On Friday, in Rye, N.Y.