Naval History and Heritage Command

PDF Version [538KB]

Robert Hayes Burns Baldwin was born in East Orange, New Jersey, on July 9, 1920, son of J. Frank and Anne (Burns) Baldwin. He graduated from East Orange High School in 1937; Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, cum laude in 1938; and Princeton University, summa cum laude in 1942. At Princeton, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa; played football, basketball and received the Roper Cup, which is awarded to the best all around athlete.

Appointed a Midshipman in the US Naval Reserve in October 1942, he received officer candidate training at Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, and was commissioned Ensign, USNR on December 24, 1924. He remained at Northwestern until September 1944 and was then assigned to duty in USS Mission Bay (CVE-59). In November 1945 he reported as Gunnery Officer of USS Solomons (CVE-67). On March 30, 1946 he was released from active naval service as a Lieutenant and subsequently resigned his commission in the Naval Reserve in 1955.

In April 1946, Mr. Baldwin joined the investment banking firm of Morgan Stanley & Company, and in 1958 became a general partner in that firm. On June 30, 1965, he retired as a general partner and became a limited partner.

On April 19, 1965, he was appointed Special Consultant to the Secretary and the Under Secretary of the Navy. He was sworn in as Under Secretary of the Navy on July 1965.

Mr. Baldwin is a Trustee of The Seeing Eye, Morristown, New Jersey; Director, The Beekman Downtown Hospital, New York, New York; and a former Governor of the Investment Bankers Association of America, the Association of Stock Firms, and the Bond Club of New York.

He died January 3, 2016.

END