Eugene Robert Black Sr. (May 1, 1898 – February 20, 1992) was an American investment banker who was the third president of the World Bank Group, serving from 1949 to 1962.

[1] He was the eldest son of Eugene R. Black, who served as the sixth chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1933 to 1934, during the height of the Great Depression.

[3] Upon graduating from university in 1917, he enlisted in the United States Navy to fight in World War I;[2] he was assigned to convoy duty in the North Atlantic.

[2] In 1933, he was hired by Chase National Bank, which had at one point owned Harris Forbes,[3] as a second vice president,[2] and moved back to New York.

[1] In 1944, the World Bank was established by the Bretton Woods Conference, mainly to provide loans for the rebuilding of postwar Europe.

To President Johnson, the creation of the ADB was an important step in securing Asian support or at least acquiescence for the War in Vietnam.