Marion Bayard Folsom (; November 23, 1893 – September 27, 1976) was an American government official and businessman. He served as the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare from 1955 to 1958 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Biography
Folsom was born in McRae, Georgia. He was the son of William Bryant Folsom and Margaret Jane (née McRae). Folsom graduated from the University of Georgia in 1912, and he received a master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1914.
In 1914, Folsom joined the Eastman Kodak Company. After serving with the Army as a captain in World War I, he returned to Kodak as its statistical secretary. As early as 1921, he proposed that Kodak create a private unemployment insurance program. The failure of the program to attract stronger support from the business community convinced Folsom that worker benefits should be provided by the government rather than private enterprise.
In 1934, Folsom was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a member of an Advisory Council on Economic Security, which laid the foundation for the present Social Security program. He served from 1935 to 1953 as a Treasurer of the Eastman Kodak Company.