Joseph M. Bryan

Who was Joseph M. Bryan?

Joseph McKinley Bryan was an American insurance executive, broadcast pioneer, and philanthropist.

Born in Elyria, Ohio, Bryan was the second son of Bart and Caroline Ebert Bryan. After serving overseas in World War I, he returned to New York City to take a job with a cotton firm. In 1923 he became the youngest member of the New York Cotton Exchange. Bryan married Kathleen M. Price of Greensboro, North Carolina, on November 19. 1927. In 1931, the couple moved to Greensboro, where Bryan accepted a job offer from Julian Price, his wife's father and founder of the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company.

Bryan joined the staff of the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company and moved up through the ranks. In 1934 he became the president of a subsidiary company which purchased WBIG, then Greensboro's only radio station, and saved it from being taken off the air. The company expanded its broadcasting division in 1945 with it purchased WBT in Charlotte. Four years later, WBTV became the first television station to air in North and South Carolina.

Bryan went on to serve in various capacities with several large corporations.