Frank Donaldson Brown (February 1, 1885 – October 2, 1965) was a financial executive and corporate director with both
DuPont
DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
and
General Motors Corporation
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
. He is the originator of
DuPont analysis
DuPont analysis (also known as the DuPont identity, DuPont equation, DuPont framework, DuPont model or the DuPont method) is an expression which breaks ROE (return on equity) into three parts.
The name comes from the DuPont company that began us ...
, a widely used technique in finance.
![Graduate Life Center at Donaldson Brown - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Graduate_Life_Center_at_Donaldson_Brown_-_panoramio.jpg)
He graduated from
Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...
in 1902 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He did graduate studies in engineering at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
and joined DuPont in 1909 as an explosives salesman.
In 1912 he came to the attention of DuPont treasurer
John J. Raskob
John Jakob Raskob, KCSG (March 19, 1879 – October 15, 1950) was a financial executive and businessman for DuPont and General Motors, and the builder of the Empire State Building. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1928 t ...
, who brought him into the financial activity and encouraged him to use uniform accounting procedures and statistical formulas to evaluate the company's diverse business interests.
In 1918 he assisted in arranging DuPont's purchase of a substantial stake in General Motors from previous chairman
William C. Durant
William Crapo Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry and co-founder of General Motors and Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple marques – each s ...
, and later that year became treasurer of DuPont replacing Raskob. In 1921 he became treasurer of GM to help protect DuPont's investment in the struggling auto maker, and in 1924 he was appointed to the executive board of GM.
His introduction of standard financial ratios (return on investment and return on equity) and flexible budgeting allowed the company to effectively manage its decentralized empire. During this time he worked closely with legendary GM head
Alfred P. Sloan. He served as vice chairman of the board from 1937 to 1946.
Brown retired as an active executive with GM in 1946, but remained on the board until 1959 when he and 3 other directors had to resign due to interlocking directorships with
DuPont
DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...
.
Graduate Life Center at Donaldson Brown
Brown served as the chair of Virginia Tech's first alumni fund and was the largest single contributor to Virginia Tech's Continuing Education Center Building Fund. In 1968, the Donaldson Brown Center for Continuing Education was constructed on the Virginia Tech main campus. In 1995, the building became the Donaldson Brown Hotel and Conference Center, but following the completion of the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center in 2006, the building was once again renamed the Graduate Life Center at Donaldson Brown. Donaldson Brown Hall currently houses Virginia Tech's graduate school and is a residence hall for approximately 115 graduate and professional students.
Donaldson Brown Center
![20190625 Donaldson DR 0146](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/20190625_Donaldson_DR_0146.jpg)
In 1938, after a fire struck his home in New York, F. Donaldson Brown built a Georgian mansion, carriage house, and outbuildings atop a rocky cliff overlooking the Susquehanna River at Port Deposit. The mansion had more than 20 bedrooms, two spiral staircases, and views of the river from a bluff on the Cecil County side of the Susquehanna. It is considered one of Maryland's most visible and iconic homes. The sprawling estate is visible from Interstate 95 off the
Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge
The Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge carries Interstate 95 (I-95) over the Susquehanna River between Cecil County and Harford County, Maryland. The toll bridge carries 29 million vehicles annually. It is upstream from the Thomas J. Hatem ...
.
The Donaldson Brown Center consists of 23.43 acres and includes a 28,384 SF two-story, Georgian mansion constructed in 1938, a 10,456 SF carriage house and a freestanding 3,934 SF greenhouse. It continues to provide visitors with views from atop the cliff, Mt. Ararat (a rock cliff overlooking the Susquehanna River, located between Port Deposit and Perryville, Cecil County, Maryland).
In 1965, the manor and surrounding property was donated to the University System of Maryland, and the mansion is administered by the
University of Maryland, Baltimore
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1807, it comprises some of the oldest professional schools of dentistry, law, medicine, pharmacy, social work and nursing in the United States ...
. Currently, the estate is utilized as a historic venue for conferences and weddings.
References
External links
DuPont bioResearch: Donaldson Brown - The Father of ROI Hagley Museum
The Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. Covering more than along the banks of the Brandywine Creek, the museum and grounds include the first du Pont ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Donaldson
1885 births
1965 deaths
American financial businesspeople
DuPont people
Virginia Tech alumni
General Motors former executives
Foundation for Economic Education