Overview
Malcolm Hough Fraser (1903–1994) was an American businessman. He founded the Genuine Parts Company with his brother in 1928 and the Stuttering Foundation of America in 1947, giving the latter most of its $10 million endowment. He was the recipient of the fourth annual National Council on Communicative Disorders Distinguished Service Award in 1984.
Biography
Malcolm Fraser was born in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, in 1903, and stuttered severely from an early age. He had his first formal speech therapy session with Dr. Frederick Martin, Superintendent of Speech Correction for the New York City Schools, who succeeded in helping him become fluent in the clinic. However, when instructed to speak on stage in a presentation to a group of eminent physicians, he "couldn't utter a single syllable"; he would remember that experience for many years, "even at age 90". Subsequently, he attended Hamilton College for two years, before graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 1924.
In 1928, Fraser and his older brother, Carlyle, founded the Genuine Parts Company in Atlanta. The former became the president of the company's Memphis warehouse, trained many of the employees who now manage the company, and would remain a director of the company until his death. As of 2000, the company was the "industry leading distributor of automotive, industrial, office and electrical/electronic replacement parts".
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