William Gouverneur Ramsay (1866-1916) trained as a civil engineer at the University of Virginia and finished his course work in 1887. His employment included numerous surveying positions with railroads until 1892. In 1892, Ramsay was hired by the Chicago sales office of the Repauno Chemical Company and Eastern Dynamite Company. He was promoted to manage Repauno's New York sales office in 1894 and resigned the position in June 1898 to serve in the Spanish-​American War.

After his return from military service in 1899, Ramsay became president of the newly-​established Great Northern Manufacturing and Supply Company, located in Terre Haute, Indiana. The company primarily sold powder it purchased from E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, and other powder manufacturers for mining use in the Indiana coal fields. Great Northern went out of business in early 1902.

With the demise of Great Northern, Ramsay joined the newly-formed engineering division of the Eastern Dynamite Company as chief engineer in 1902. When Eastern Dynamite assigned its assets to Du Pont in 1903, Ramsay became Du Pont's chief engineer and directed the construction of many of the largest explosives factories in the United States. In 1916, Ramsay became a director and vice president of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, in addition to retaining his position as chief engineer. He died September 28, 1916 at his home, north of Wilmington, Delaware.