Education
He graduated from Virginia Technical in 1902 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.
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Donaldson Brown
Edit Profilechairman director executive treasurer
Career
He did graduate studies in engineering at Cornell University and joined DuPont in 1909 as an explosives salesman. In 1912 he came to the attention of DuPont treasurer John Jay Raskob, who brought him into the financial activity and encouraged him to use uniform accounting procedures and statistical formulas to evaluate the company"s diverse business interests. In 1918 he assisted in arranging DuPont"s purchase of a substantial stake in General Motors from previous chairman William C. Durant, and later that year became treasurer of DuPont replacing Raskob.
In 1921 he became treasurer of General Motors to help protect DuPont"s investment in the struggling auto maker, and in 1924 he was appointed to the executive board of General Motors. His introduction of standard financial ratios (return on investment and return on equity) and flexible budgeting allowed the company to effectively manage its decentralized empire.
He served as vice chairman of the board from 1937 to 1946. Brown retired as an active executive with General Motors in 1946, but remained on the board until 1959 when he and 3 other directors had to resign due to interlocking directorships with DuPont.
Brown served as the chair of Virginia Technical"s first alumni fund and was the largest single contributor to Virginia Technical"s Continuing Education Center Building Fund. In 1968, the Donaldson Brown Center for Continuing Education was constructed on the Virginia Technical main campus.
In 1995, the building became the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center, but following the completion of the Inn at Virginia Technical and Skelton Conference Center in 2006, the building was once again renamed the Donaldson Brown Hall currently houses Virginia Technical"s graduate school and is a residence hall for approximately 115 graduate and professional students.
