1922: Born in Saginaw, Mich.
1940: Enrolled at General Motors Institute, under sponsorship of Saginaw Malleable Iron plant (later part of GM's Central Foundry Division)
1944: Graduated from GMI and began serving as an engineering officer in the Navy's submarine service
1946: Returned to Saginaw Malleable Iron as a draftsman, but asked to be transferred to plant floor. Served in engineering, sales, production and control and manufacturing positions.
1955: Manager at GM foundry in Defiance, Ohio
1963: General manager at Detroit Transmission Division, later called Hydra-matic Division
1969: General manager at Pontiac and a GM vice president
1972: General manager of Chevrolet
1974: Executive vice president and a member of the board of directors
1981: GM president and COO
1984: Began reorganizing North American vehicle operations from 5 car-making divisions into 2 groups: Chevrolet-Pontiac-Canada and Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac
1987: Retired from GM
2010: Died at age 87
His career took him from the foundry floor through the corporate ranks at General Motors, but by many accounts Jim McDonald remained a manufacturing guy at heart.
