Hall of Fame 6.7.26 - Flipbook - Page 19
Hall of Fame | Sunday, June 7, 2026 19
BENJAMIN
GRISWOLD
Working in investment banking was a path Benjamin Griswold’s relatives forged generations before he was born.
Griswold, the great-great-great-great-grandson of Alexander Brown, who founded the nation’s first investment bank in 1800, spent three decades building up
Alex. Brown & Sons, upholding its legacy through a $1.7 billion merger with Bankers Trust in 1997 and a sale to Deutsche Bank two years later.
Still a senior adviser at Brown Advisory, an offshoot of the family firm, Griswold remains active in the business and philanthropic worlds, offering his time and
financial prowess in education, the arts and history.
Griswold is a “leader in every respect” and a
man known for steadiness through challenges,
said Truman T. Semans, a senior adviser at Brown
Advisory and Griswold’s business partner for 50
years.
“I’ve been with him in good times and bad times,
and found that he always reacted in a very highgrade way,” Semans said. “You could always count
on him. He’s always been a good friend to his
friends.”
Born in Baltimore and raised on a farm near
Monkton, Griswold had an upbringing in rural
Baltimore County that spurred a lifelong love of
horse racing. From his teenage years to his mid30s, Griswold was an amateur steeplechase jockey,
and his passion persists today — he owns several
horses that have run the Grand National Steeplechase and the Maryland Hunt Cup.
A Gilman graduate, Griswold followed a long
line of family members who attended Princeton
University, enrolling in the ROTC program.
He joined the Army in early 1963, spending the
height of the Cold War in Germany as an artillery
officer. He credits his military career for widening
his worldview and quick adaptability in highstakes situations.
“When you’re an officer and responsible for
leading people, if you tell people how good they
are, they’ll prove that to you,” he said. “If you tell
people how bad they are, they’ll prove that to you.”
After earning his master’s in business administration from Harvard in 1967, Griswold found
himself fortunate in being recruited by several
other firms, but he felt called to return to Baltimore and join Alex. Brown & Sons as a security
analyst, launching a 30-year career with the firm.
“I thought, I’ve got a wonderful family legacy, a
wonderful business, so let’s do that,” he said.
With a clear path ahead, Griswold rose through
the ranks at Alex. Brown, running the firm’s institutional business arm and becoming a partner
Benjamin Howell Griswold IV
Age: 85
Hometown: Baltimore
Current residence: Butler
Education: Gilman School; Princeton University;
MBA, Harvard Business School
Career highlights: Partner, vice chairman,
chair of Alex. Brown & Sons;
adviser, Brown Advisory
Civic and charitable activities:
Former director of New York Stock Exchange,
Stanley Black & Decker Inc., Flowers Foods, W.P.
Carey Inc.; trustee emeritus of the Johns Hopkins
University; former chair of United Way of Central
Maryland; former board member of Baltimore
Symphony Orchestra and Walters Art Gallery
Family: Married to Wendy Griswold;
eight children and 16 grandchildren
in 1972. Twelve years later, he was elected vice
chair of the firm’s board of directors, later becoming its chair in 1987.
Doug Godine, who joined Alex. Brown in 1993
shortly after graduating from college, still remembers how generous Griswold was in his interactions with colleagues, offering his time and network to those early in their careers, despite his
seniority with the firm.
“He was so incredibly approachable, and he took
an interest in all the young guys and young gals,
anybody that was in their 20s or early 30s —
whether you were in research, banking, sales or
trading, he knew who you were, he knew what
you did,” Godine said. “When things went well,
he was the first to come and congratulate you.”
A “team effort,” coupled with a strong capital
base and institutional business sector growth, propelled Alex. Brown to record-breaking revenues,
Griswold said. The firm soared from roughly $70
million in revenue to a stunning $1 billion by 1996
— a first in the firm’s nearly 200-year history, helping to solidify its expansion from regional service
to a national specialty firm.
There’s no magic behind that kind of growth,
Griswold said. “It’s just a question of going to work
every day, putting one foot in front of the other
[and] getting new clients.”
Always smooth and likable, Griswold took a
genuine interest in others’ lives and backstories,
Godine said, recalling his “remarkable” natural
ability to ease tensions in meeting rooms.
Though the core of Alex. Brown saw immense
change in the late ’90s with its Bankers Trust
merger and sale to Deutsche Bank, Griswold held
his course with the business through 2004. But
he returned to his familial business roots in 2005
when he joined Brown Advisory, once a money
management firm under Alex. Brown became independent in 1998.
Amid Alex. Brown’s evolution, Griswold stepped
into the philanthropic world with the Johns Hopkins University Board of Trustees — a commitment that required plenty of time and effort but
was worth every minute, he said. He chaired the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s endowment
board, as well as the Walters Art Gallery and the
United Way of Central Maryland.
Griswold has always supported the community
in which he lives, embracing good causes and offering financial support, from Baltimore to Maryland and beyond, Semans said.
“I think he’s an outstanding human being and
philanthropist,” Semans said. “I think the world of
him.”
Griswold said he doesn’t think about his legacy.
Instead, he focuses on doing the best he can with
the opportunities he’s been afforded.
“As I look back on the brief 85 years, I always say
to myself, ‘How lucky can you be?’” Griswold said.
— Natalie Jones
