Sloan, Alfred Pritchard, Jr.

Sloan, Alfred Pritchard, Jr., 1875–1966, American businessman and philanthropist, b. New Haven, Conn., grad. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1895. He began his career as a draftsman for the Hyatt Roller Bearing Company, becoming its president in 1901; under his leadership the income and assets of the company were greatly increased. He sold the company to General Motors in 1916 and later became its president. As head of General Motors, Sloan inaugurated "standard procedures" (i.e., rules to effect better management); he was chairman of the board from 1937 to 1956. His philanthropic interests extended to many institutions, including the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research and the Sloan Foundation. He wrote My Years with General Motors (1964).