Roy S. Roberts is an American

business executive A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations gr ...

who had a long career at

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

before retiring as group vice president, North American Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing in 2000. He is also a former managing director at Reliant Equity Investors."Roy Roberts Biography," Detroit Public Schools
detroitk12.org From 2011 - 2013 he was the Detroit Public Schools' Emergency Financial Manager and board chairman of the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan.Polston, Mike. "Roy Roberts (1939-)"
''Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture'', 14 June 2017 He is considered a pioneer for African Americans in the auto industry. He once told

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

magazine, "I've been the first black everywhere I went. One of my jobs is to see I'm not the last." An August 1988 article published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' stated Roberts was the second African-American vice-president at GM, after Otis Smith. For much of his career he was the highest-ranking African American in the automobile industry. Roberts began his professional career working on an assembly line at

Lear Siegler Lear Siegler Incorporated (LSI) is a diverse American corporation established in 1962. Its products range from car seats and brakes to weapons control systems for military fighter planes. The company's more than $2 billion-a-year annual sales come ...

while attending

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

. Roberts has also served in numerous volunteer and civic organizations. He is a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America (the organization's governing body) a former president of the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

and an officer in the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

Early life

Roberts was born in 1939, the ninth of ten children, in

Magnolia, Arkansas Magnolia is a city in Columbia County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 11,577. The city is the county seat of Columbia County. Magnolia is home to the World's Largest Charcoal Grill and the World Championship ...

.Johnson, Anne. Contemporary Black Biography: Roy S. Roberts, Automobile Industry Executive
encyclopedia.com, 1997 His mother died when he was two years old and later his father moved the family to Muskegon, Michigan. He describes his upbringing as "dirt-poor." His father worked two jobs (as a foundry employee and as a barber) to support the family. Roberts credits his father with instilling in him the value of education. Roberts worked full-time while attending

at night, where he graduated with honors, with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration.

Bloomfield Hills Country Club controversy

Roberts unwillingly found himself at the center of a controversial event at the

Bloomfield Hills Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is surrounded on most sides by Bloomfi ...

Country Club in 1994 when the club refused to admit him after he had applied for membership. Though the club claimed its actions were not based on Roberts' race, G.M.'s president, John F. Smith Jr., and its chief financial officer, J. Michael Losh, chose to resign their memberships with the club because Roberts had been barred from joining. Roberts was later accepted as a member.

Autobiography

Roberts' autobiography, ''My American Success Story: Always the First, Never the Last'', was published in 2015.

References

External links

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BUSINESS PEOPLE
Profile in ''The New York Times'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Roy 1939 births Living people African-American business executives American business executives General Motors executives National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America members Presidents of the Boy Scouts of America 21st-century African-American businesspeople 20th-century African-American people Detroit Public Schools Community District