Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr

Alfred Pritchard Sloan, 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).

Sloan Foundation fund established (1934) by automobile executive Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. as a philanthropic institution supporting research in various areas. In its early years it stressed support of U.S. economic education and research. After World War II its emphasis shifted in part to medical research, particularly cancer research. In the late 1960s its activities were expanded to include studies in current social problems, science, and technology. These interests, with the addition of a focus on the economy and its effects on standards of living, continued through the 1990s. The foundation has been a major financial supporter of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, established in 1945. In 1998 its endowment exceeded $1 billion.