Donald A. Leslie, 1926
B.A., Denison University
Atlanta
Citation awarded on Saturday, June 6, 1970
A successful business leaders in international business purchasing and a notable supporter of the community of Atlanta, Donald Alexander Leslie was born in Belgian Congo, Africa, the son of Baptist medical missionaries and became one of six children to attend Denison.
After joining the Coca-Cola Company in 1933, he rose through the ranks to the company’s top position as vice president, director of purchasing, and a member of the corporate staff. Active in the purchasing affairs on the national level, his knowledge of sugar and the sugar trade led to two years’ service in 1965-66 on the Mexico-United States Committee of the United States Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the executive association of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business Administration and the N.Y. Coffee and Sugar Exchange.
Mr. Leslie’s long-time civic work in Atlanta includes years as a director of the Brookwood Hills Civic Association and director of the Central Community Branch of the YMCA, and he continues to be active in the fundraising program of this inner city organization. He is also a promoter of the High Museum of Art, the Atlanta Arts Alliance, and the Atlanta Historical Society. He has served Atlanta’s First Presbyterian Church as elder, superintendent, teacher of the Church School, and currently as adult adviser to the college group of that church.
