Alfred P. Sloan

In 1898, he married Irene Jackson of Roxbury, Massachusetts. They had no children.

He shared a special bond with his half-brother, Raymond, who was 18 years younger to him. He was deeply saddened when Raymond died in the 1940s.

He established the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a philanthropic non-profit organization, in 1934 and devoted a large share of his time and energy to philanthropic activities. The foundation gave grants for science and technological research and also contributed a fair share of money for cancer research.

He was born on May 23, 1875 in New Haven, Connecticut, to Alfred Pritchard Sloan Sr., machinist and investor, and his wife, Katherine Mead Sloan. He was the first of the five children of his parents.

His father invested in a number of businesses including a tea and coffee import company.

He received his early education from the Brooklyn public schools and the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute where he excelled in academics.

After school, he studied electrical engineering and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1895. He was the youngest member of his graduating class.

In 1895, he was appointed as a draftsman in the Hyatt Rolling Bearing Company at Harrison, New Jersey. The company used to make roller and ball bearings at the time of his appointment.

In 1899, he became the president and general manager of the company when his father brought the firm with one of his friends. As the president, he revived the firm by manufacturing the steel roller bearings for the growing automobile industry.

His company grew rapidly in sales and manufacturing under his leadership and soon became a standard in the automobile industry.

In 1916, the Hyatt Roller Bearing Company and a number of other manufacturers of automobile accessories, merged with the United Motors Corporation and he became president of the merged entity.

In 1918, United Motors became part of the General Motors Corporation and he was named its Vice President in Charge of Accessories and a member of the Executive Committee.

One of his most significant and notable works was his contribution in the successful rise of his company in the automotive business. Under his supervision, General Motors became one of the largest industrial enterprises of the world.

He became one of the first theorists of management as a discipline in modern American business. He was responsible for organizing the company’s inventory in various divisions and achieving targets with profits in a highly effective manner.

In 1931, under his sponsorship, the world's first university based executive education program, ‘The Sloan Fellows’, started at MIT.

He is also remembered as a great philanthropist. In 1934, he founded the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation which contributes to the areas of science and technology, standard of living, education, and medical research.