William Danforth
Founder
The Ralston Purina Company
Laureate 2006
Although young William was an energetic boy, he, like most folks from the swamp lands, had frequent attacks of malaria. One day Will’s teacher, who knew of Will’s great potential, dared him to become the healthiest boy in the class. Young Will took the dare and built his life on the proposition that to live is to dare. Upon graduating from Washington University in St. Louis in 1892, William Danforth found a job in the brick business. Since building material sales were seasonal, he was not satisfied. With characteristic directness he observed that “animals must eat the year round,” so in 1894 he went into the business of mixing formula feeds for farm animals. William co-founded the Robinson–Danforth Commission Company and produced horse feed by mixing ground corn and crushed oats with hand shovels. He was a natural salesman and traveled up and down the Mississippi with enormous energy selling feed to anyone and everyone. His hard-work, enthusiasm and confidence were contagious among his associates and the company quickly grew. Over the next several years, the Ralston Purina Company established mills in St. Louis and 32 other cities in the U.S. and Canada.For all of Mr. Danforth’s heavy executive
schedule over the years and his “daring” for high stakes in the business world, he avoided letting business crowd out a happy balance
of living. This represented the essence of his personal philosophy, the “Four Square” life. A man’s ingredients for life are a body, a mind, a personality, and character, Mr.Danforth would say, and all four must grow in balance with each other.
Select a button below to see how you or your organization can get involved with Junior Achievement of Greater St. Louis, Inc..
Donate Volunteer Request A Program