Frederic G. Donner became the sixth man to hold the position of Chairman of the Board of the General Motors Corporation on September 1, 1958. He held this title until he retired on November 1, 1967. During this time, he also served as Chief Executive Officer.

Donner was born October 4, 1902, in Three Oaks, Michigan, a rural community in the southwestern corner of the state, a few miles from both Lake Michigan and the Indiana line. He graduated from Three Oaks High School in 1919 and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1923, with his major work in economics.

Donner's first job after graduation was with the Chicago accounting firm of Reckitt, Benington and LeClear. In March of 1926, he went to work for General Motors as an accountant on the Financial Staff in New York. This launched a career that absorbed most of his business life.

On February 1, 1934, Donner was elected assistant treasurer of the Corporation, and on June 15, 1937, he was made general assistant treasurer. He was elected vice president in charge of the financial Staff on July 7, 1941. Six months later, on January 5, 1942, he was made a member of the Board of Directors.

On April 2, 1956, Donner was elected executive vice president and chairman of the Financial Policy Committee and was serving in these capacities when he was elected as GM's top ranking executive. He continued as chairman of the Finance Committee until his retirement from GM.

Donner brought to his work a rigorous analytical mind and an unyielding insistence on getting the facts. His desire to know and understand all aspects of General Motors' operations and his disciplined attention to his responsibilities earned him the respect and admiration of his associates in and out of the company.

Donner's career, beginning and advancing through the General Motors Financial Staff, provided a broad challenge bringing him in close touch with the expanding opportunities for the company worldwide. It gave him a detailed familiarity with operating policy, with the evolving needs of the business and the never-ending disciplines of a competitive economy. In his search for understanding, he read widely and continuously in economics and business.

During the 1930s, he participated in a number of studies leading to improved dealer relations policies. In the ensuing years, he was particularly active in all aspects of the Corporation's marketing practice and policy. Later, he remained closely associated with the problems and progress of the General Motors dealer group through his membership on the President's Dealer Advisory Council.

During World War II, Donner's duties included supervising the preparation of reports for submission to the War Department Price Adjustment Board. These yearly reports, comprehensive in their coverage, reflected the fact that General Motors was the country's largest and most diversified producer of war material.

Another major assignment during this period was the setting up of one of the first bank credit arrangements under the so-called V-loan procedure to assure adequate working capital for rapidly expanding war production needs. Of major concern to Donner after the war was the expanding capital needs of General Motors. Additional funds were required for conversion back to civilian operation, for modernization and expansion, to counteract the effects of inflation and to maintain a generally higher level of operations.

In 1948, Donner was one of a group of General Motors executives who visited West Germany to determine whether or not to resume control of Adam Opel AG, a German subsidiary, the investment in which had been written off during the war. After inspecting the damaged properties, he and the group recommended that General Motors rehabilitate and resume operations. The resumption of control of Opel reestablished the worldwide position of General Motors and set the stage for the vigorous postwar expansion of the business.

Donner took an intense interest in the progress and opportunities of all General Motors people from the earliest days of his executive career. This interest extended to the planning and development of employee benefit and protection plans, as well as to labor relations matters both in this country and abroad. He was close to and thoroughly conversant with labor negotiations between General Motors and the union representing GM employees.

In 1950, the General Motors pension program, which had been established on a contributory basis for salaried employees in 1940, was expanded to provide coverage for all employees. This placed a substantial additional burden of responsibility upon the Financial Staff to prepare the program and put it into effect. The revised program incorporated a number of unusual features. Notably, it permitted the application of a part of the fund investments to equity securities. It also provided for the allocation of the pension funds among seven trusts managed by seven geographically dispersed banks and trust companies.

Donner's responsibilities during the Korean War were substantially enlarged, reflecting the need to adjust the resources of the business quickly to national defense requirements, material allocations and wage and price controls. At the same time, he and his staff were concerned with planning for the prompt and orderly readjustment of the business when the war ended.

After his retirement as Chairman and CEO, Donner continued to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of General Motors and its Finance Committee until May, 1974. He had been a member of the GM Board since 1942.

Frederic G. Donner died February 28, 1987.

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