George Keith Funston: Salesman of Shares in America

George Keith Funston was an American executive who became the president of the New York Stock Exchange. Funston was born in Waterloo, Iowa on October 12, 1910. He had a master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

Funston started his career with American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation as sales executive. Later, he became director of sales planning of Sylvania Electric Products. He left Sylvania to become the special assistant to the deputy chairman of the War Production Board Sidney J. Weinberg, and to the board’s chairman Donald M. Nelson. He left the board to join the Industrial Readjustment Branch of the US Navy with the rank of lieutenant commander. While there, he was appointed as president of Trinity College.

In 1951, Funston became the president of the New York Stock Exchange. During his presidency, the Stock Exchange experienced rapid expansions. Its influence in the business community was revived. During his term, Funston was known as the “salesman of shares in America.”