William Henry Donaldson (born June 2, 1931) was the 27th Chairman of the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

(SEC), serving from February 2003 to June 2005. He served as Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs in the

Nixon Administration Richard Nixon's tenure as the 37th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974, in the face of almost certain impeachment because of the Watergate Scanda ...

, as a special adviser to Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Chairman and CEO of the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

, and Chairman, President and CEO of

Aetna Aetna Inc. () is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...

. Donaldson founded

Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) was a U.S. investment bank founded by William H. Donaldson, Richard Jenrette, and Dan Lufkin in 1959. Its businesses included securities underwriting; sales and trading; investment and merchant banking; fina ...

Early life and education

Donaldson attended both

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

(B.A. 1953) and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

(M.B.A. 1958). While he was a senior at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, he joined its

Skull and Bones Skull and Bones, also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death, is an undergraduate senior secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior class society at the university, Skull and Bone ...

secret society.

Career

He began his career at G. H. Walker & Co., a banking and brokerage firm. Donaldson returned to Yale and founded the

Yale School of Management The Yale School of Management (also known as Yale SOM) is the graduate business school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. The school awards the Master of Business Administration (MBA), MBA for Executiv ...

, where he served as

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

and professor of

management studies Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. Donaldson had a vision of Yale's management program forming students who could easily and seamlessly flow between public and private management roles. This was a binary vision, emphasizing private for profit corporations and government leadership positions, while ignoring leadership in various not-for-profit, non-governmental organizations. His grand visions of balanced approaches were shattered when the first graduating class almost all took positions in business, almost none taking jobs with government. The main building of the school continues to display a life-size portrait of him and the premier leadership award at Yale School of Management is called "Donaldson Fellows". He also served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. He was Chairman of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace from 1999 to 2003. Donaldson is a

chartered financial analyst The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program is a postgraduate professional certification offered internationally by the American-based CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research, or AIMR) to investment and fina ...

(CFA) charterholder and has received a number of honorary degrees. He is on the board of IEX.

Personal life

Donaldson is the father of three children and is married to Jane Phillips Donaldson.

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson, William 1931 births Living people Members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Politicians from Buffalo, New York Harvard Business School alumni Yale University alumni United States Under Secretaries of State CFA charterholders New York (state) Republicans American chief executives of financial services companies United States Marines Businesspeople from Buffalo, New York 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople Yale School of Management faculty Nixon administration personnel George W. Bush administration personnel Carnegie Endowment for International Peace