Donald Roderick McLennan (October 27, 1873 – October 14, 1944) was born in

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, son of William Lillingston McLennan and Julia MacLeod. He was the

co-founder An organizational founder is a person who has undertaken some or all of the formational work needed to create a new organization, whether it is a business, a charitable organization, a governing body, a school, a group of entertainers, or any other ...

of the

insurance broker An insurance broker is an intermediary who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance on behalf of a client for compensation. An insurance broker is distinct from an insurance agent in that a broker typically acts on behalf of a client by negoti ...

age firm Burroughs, Marsh & McLennan in 1905, which was renamed

Marsh & McLennan Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., doing business as Marsh McLennan, is a global professional services firm, headquartered in New York City with businesses in insurance brokerage, risk management, reinsurance services, talent management, investme ...

in 1906 after the retirement of Mr. D. W. Burroughs. McLennan served as the

Chairman of the Board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

from 1935 until his death in 1944 in

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest ...

. At the time of his death, the firm had offices in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and twenty other cities. In 2020, Marsh & McLennan Companies had over 76,000 employees and annual revenues of $17 billion.

Professional life

Donald McLennan and co-founder Henry W. Marsh introduced the "concept of a broker acting as a buyer of insurance representing the client, rather than as a seller of insurance."MMC Milestones
Marsh and McLennan helped to pioneer the concept of risk management. In 1894, Donald McLennan began his insurance career at Stryker, Manley & Buck (formerly Kimberly, Stryker & Manley est.1881) in Duluth, MN; Soon after, he became a partner in C.H. Graves & Co., which shortly was consolidated with his former firm to become the Graves-Manley Agency. McLennan was a vice-president, and shortly thereafter, the firm became the McLennan-Manley Agency. In the early 1900s, McLennan established a standard for thorough research in assessing risk: he spent 30 consecutive nights on a

sleeper train The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. The first such cars s ...

, traveling coast to coast across the U.S., to inspect the operations of the railroad lines. By 1917, the year the United States entered World War I, Marsh & McLennan had established offices throughout the country. During the war, McLennan became responsible for the allocation and regulation of building materials for purposes other than those directly related to the war effort. For the duration of the war, no U.S. company could build an industrial plant without McLennan's approval. In this way McLennan acquired many business contacts throughout the United States, enhancing Marsh & McLennan's reputation in the postwar period. While McLennan was the

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the company, Marsh & McLennan expanded its business into the consulting industry in 1938. Over the course of his life, McLennan sat on the boards of the

American Sugar Refining Company American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, the Evergreen Mines Company,

Armour & Company Armour & Company was an American company and was one of the five leading firms in the meat packing industry. It was founded in Chicago, in 1867, by the Armour brothers led by Philip Danforth Armour. By 1880, the company had become Chicago's most ...

, the First National Bank of Lake Forest, the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

, the Peoples Gas, Light and Coke Company, the

Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company The Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company was at one time the seventh-largest commercial bank in the United States as measured by deposits, with approximately $40 billion in assets. In 1984, Continental Illinois became the largest ...

, the

Pullman Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...

, Pullman, Inc., the Chicago Corporation, and the Empire Securities Company.

References and footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLennan, Donald R. American businesspeople in insurance Businesspeople in insurance American chief executives American financiers American investors 1873 births 1944 deaths