David W. Brumbaugh was born May 20, 1908. He graduated Roanoke College in 1929 with a degree in A.B. He furthered his education at Harvard Graduate Business School and earned his MBA in 1931. David also received his CPA in New York State in 1932. David was Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and Director for TIME, Inc. He also served as a member of the Board of Trustees from 1960-1983, when he was named a Trustee Emeritus.
David served as the president of the Roanoke College Alumni Association from 1963 to 1968. He was a charter member of the Associates and he chaired a capital campaign in the New York area that helped to build the Roanoke College Library. David was honored with the Roanoke College Medal in 1968, the highest honor for alumni. He was also awarded the Brumbaugh the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in1991 by Dr. David Gring, (the president of Roanoke College), and was named as one of the college's 150 Distinguished Alumni in 1992."
David Brumbaugh knew and was known by five of the nine Roanoke College Presidents," Gring said. "His leadership contributions to a multinational corporation and the U.S. Postal Service are a matter of record. Less well known was the extraordinary contribution that he made to Roanoke College as Trustee and volunteer extraordinaire." An article in the New York Times credits Brumbaugh as being the executive who introduced TIME Inc.'s system for delivering magazines to the Postal Service and this led to the development of the ZIP codes. The New York Times says Brumbaugh was known at TIME as "Mr. Zip."
David was to married Juanita Johnson on January 25, 1958 and they had two children together; David W. Brumbaugh, JR. and Ann Seay Brumbaugh together.
David W. Brumbaugh received the Roanoke College Medal in 1968.