William H. Donaldson

William Henry Donaldson (born June 2, 1931) was the 27th Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), serving from February 2003 to June 2005. He served as Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs in the Nixon Administration, as a special adviser to Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, and Chairman, President and CEO of Aetna.[1] Donaldson founded Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.[2]

For other people named William Donaldson, see William Donaldson (disambiguation).

William H. Donaldson
27th Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission
In office February 18, 2003 – June 2005
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Harvey Pitt
Succeeded by	Christopher Cox
Personal details
Born	(1931-06-02) June 2, 1931 Buffalo, New York, USA
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Jane Phillips Donaldson
Children	3
Alma mater	Yale University (B.A.) Harvard Business School (M.B.A.)
Occupation	former SEC chairman (retired)

Early life and education

Donaldson attended both Yale University (B.A. 1953) and Harvard University (M.B.A. 1958). While he was a senior at Yale, he joined its Skull and Bones secret society.[3][4]

Career

He began his career at G. H. Walker & Co., a banking and brokerage firm.[5]

Donaldson returned to Yale and founded the Yale School of Management, where he served as dean and professor of management studies. 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.[6] 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.[7]

He was Chairman of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace from 1999 to 2003.[8]

Donaldson is a chartered financial analyst (CFA) charterholder and has received a number of honorary degrees.[9]

He is on the board of IEX.[10]

Personal life

Donaldson is the father of three children and is married to Jane Phillips Donaldson.[9]

References

1. "Aetna chief: Aetna Inc. named William Donaldson chairman". Chicago Tribune. February 25, 2000.
2. Linder, Karen (2012). The Women of Berkshire Hathaway: Lessons from Warren Buffett's Female CEOs and Directors. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781118227411. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
3. Robbins, Alexandra (2002). Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power. Boston: Little, Brown. pp. 166, 173. ISBN 0-316-72091-7.
4. "Skull And Bones: Secret Yale Society Includes America's Power Elite", CBS News, June 13, 2004
5. Wall Street figure tapped to head SEC . San Francisco Chronicle, December 11, 2002
6. "Private Service" address by Lee Tom Perry on issues involved in the Yale Management School formation
7. Official biography at SEC website.
8. "Donaldson, William H."
9. "Bill Donaldson". NNDB. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
10. Executive Team, IEX, retrieved October 26, 2017

Government offices
Preceded by Harvey Pitt	Securities and Exchange Commission Chair 2003– 2005	Succeeded by Charles Christopher Cox