Roche, James Michael

▪ 2005

      American businessman (b. Dec. 16, 1906, Elgin, Ill.—d. June 6, 2004, Belleair, Fla.), served (1967–71) as chairman and chief executive officer of General Motors. He joined GM as a statistician in 1927 and slowly worked his way up through the ranks, becoming president of the corporation in 1965. After devastating race riots in 1968, he improved relations with the city of Detroit and made GM the first major corporation to have an African American on its board of directors by hiring the Rev. Leon Sullivan in 1971.

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