Frederic Garrett Donner (October 4, 1902 – February 28, 1987) was an American chairman and CEO of the

General Motors Corporation General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, ...

from September 1, 1958, to October 31, 1967. Frederic G. Donner was born in Three Oaks Michigan, the son of an accountant, on October 4, 1902. He graduated from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

with a degree in economics and worked briefly for a Chicago accounting firm.

Career at GM

He joined General Motors's New York staff as an accountant in 1926, and worked there for 32 years.Biography
Frederic G. Donner Papers 1921-198
Finding Aid
Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. Accessed May 19, 2009. He became assistant treasurer in 1934 and in 1941, at 38, he became one of the youngest GM executives ever to reach a vice-presidency. In 1956 he was named executive vice president for finance. He served as an officer of General Motors from 1941 until 1958, when he became chairman and chief executive officer. Donner presided over a major reorganization of GM's board of directors to include more representation from outside the corporation. During his tenure GM achieved record sales and profits.

Later career at GM

He was at the helm when GM expanded its product line with 12 new passenger cars, including the

Nova A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

, Chevelle,

Firebird Firebird and fire bird may refer to: Mythical birds * Phoenix (mythology), sacred firebird found in the mythologies of many cultures ** Fenghuang, sometimes called Chinese phoenix * Vermilion bird, one of the four symbols of the Chinese constella ...

Century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

, Riviera, Camaro, Pontiac LeMans,

Cutlass A cutlass is a short, broad sabre or slashing sword with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard. It was a common naval weapon during the early Age of ...

, and Eldorado. Donner was the author of ''The worldwide industrial enterprise; its challenge and promise.'' Donner was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1994.Automotive Hall of Fame
page. Accessed May 19, 2009.

References

1902 births 1987 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople Businesspeople from Michigan University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni 20th-century American businesspeople American chief executives in the automobile industry General Motors executives {{US-business-bio-1900s-stub