Donald M. James (born January 20, 1949) is an American lawyer and businessman. He served as the chief executive officer of

Vulcan Materials Company Vulcan Materials Company () is an American company based in Birmingham, Alabama. It is principally engaged in the production, distribution and sale of construction materials. Vulcan is the largest producer of construction materials, primarily gra ...

from 1997 to 2014.

Early life

James was born on January 20, 1949, in

Russellville, Alabama Russellville is a city in Franklin County in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 10,855, up from 9,830 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Franklin County. History After the War of 1812, t ...

. He graduated from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1971, followed by a master in business administration in 1973. He earned a JD from the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

in 1977.

Career

James began his career as a lawyer, and he became a partner at Bradley, Arant, Rose & White in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. James began working at Vulcan Material Company in 1992, and he served as its president from 1996 to 1997. He was its chief executive officer from 1997 to 2014, when he was succeeded by J. Thomas Hill. James served on the boards of

Protective Life Protective Life Corporation is a financial service holding company in Birmingham, Alabama.https://protective.newshq.businesswire.com/sites/protective.newshq.businesswire.com/files/press_kit/file/We_Are_Protective_Life_-_Company_Overview_and_Financ ...

SouthTrust SouthTrust Corporation was a banking company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2004, SouthTrust reached an agreement to merge with Wachovia in a stock-for-stock deal. At the time of the merger with Wachovia was completed, SouthTrust had $5 ...

and

Wachovia Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asset ...

. He has served on the board of

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

since 2009. James was inducted into the

Alabama Academy of Honor The Alabama Academy of Honor recognizes one hundred living Alabamians for outstanding accomplishments and services to Alabama and the United States. . By act of the Alabama Legislature, only one hundred living people may be members at any time. Up t ...

in 2009.

Personal life

James has a wife, Anna, daughter Virginia Grace Cohen and two others, and seven grandchildren, including Henry Sims Cohen.

References

Living people 1949 births People from Russellville, Alabama University of Alabama alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni American chief executives American corporate directors Wells Fargo {{US-business-bio-1940s-stub