John C. Whitehead
Encyclopedia
John Cunningham Whitehead (born April 2, 1922) is an American
banker and civil servant, currently a board member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation (WTC Memorial Foundation) and, until his resignation in May 2006, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
. His family moved to Montclair, New Jersey
when he was two years old.
Whitehead graduated from Haverford College
in 1943 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II
, where he commanded one of the LCVP
landing crafts at Omaha Beach
, in the D-Day
landing invasion of Normandy
.
In 1947 he received an MBA degree from Harvard Business School
and subsequently joined the prestigious New York investment bank of Goldman Sachs
. He rose to become chairman over a total of 38 years at the firm, and retired in 1984 as Co-Chairman and Co-Senior Partner.
He served as United States Deputy Secretary of State
in Ronald Reagan
's administration
from 1985 to 1989 under George Shultz, and was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal
by President Reagan. In 1996, he was the campaign chairman for Michael Benjamin
who ran for a seat in New York's 8th congressional district
.
He is former Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
, the United Nations Association
, and a former Chairman of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
and the Harvard Board of Overseers
. He is a former director of the New York Stock Exchange
and Chairman Emeritus of The Brookings Institution
.
He has a long association with the Rockefeller family
, having held positions at various times with family-created institutions such as Rockefeller University
, the Asia Society
(where he is Chairman Emeritus and Honorary Life Trustee), the Lincoln Center Theater and the WTC Memorial Foundation. In these organisations, and previously when he was for a time on the family's powerful Trust Committee, overseeing the family fortune and investments of the Rockefeller Group, the real estate firm that previously owned and managed Rockefeller Center
, he became closely associated with David Rockefeller
.
As an alumnus of Haverford College
in Pennsylvania
, he has had the campus center and the chair of the philosophy department named after him. The John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations
at Seton Hall University
is also named after him. He received an honorary LL.D. from Bates College
in 2004, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from The City University of New York upon the recommendation of Macaulay Honors College in 2009.
He also serves on the board of the International Rescue Committee
, an international human rights
organization. In 1987, he was awarded the IRC's Freedom Award, along with Elie Wiesel
. Other recipients of the award have included Winston Churchill
, Hubert Humphrey
, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton
, John McCain
, Lech Wałęsa
, Hamid Karzai
, Madeleine Albright
, and Václav Havel
. Whitehead is an Eagle Scout
and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
. He has been Chairman of the Financial Services Volunteer Corps
(FSVC) since July, 2005. He is also an Advisory Board member for the Partnership for a Secure America
, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy. Moreover, Whitehead sits on the Advisory Board of the Washington
-based think-tank Global Financial Integrity
, which conducts research on illicit financial flows
and the damaging effects they have on developing countries.
John Whitehead is Co-Chairman of AMDeC Foundation, a 28-member organization of leaders in biomedical research and technology in New York State. Mr. Whitehead, along with AMDeC President, Dr. Maria K. Mitchell, secures funding and infrastructure support for next-generation research for New York's renown academic medical centers.
Whitehead was married to the late pioneering television newswoman, Nancy Dickerson
until her death; her son, John Dickerson, the writer, is one of his stepchildren. In 2003, Mr. Whitehead dedicated the Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Community Service Center for Homeless Youth in Southeast Washington, D.C. with a generous gift to Covenant House
.
In 2005, Whitehead published a memoir A Life In Leadership: From D-Day to Ground Zero.
In 2006, Whitehead was one of the most notable Republican donors to the campaign of Joseph Lieberman in his independent re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate.
On November 12, 2008, Whitehead, said at the Reuters Global Finance Summit the United States economy faces an economic slump deeper than the Great Depression and that a growing deficit threatens the credit of the country itself.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
banker and civil servant, currently a board member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation (WTC Memorial Foundation) and, until his resignation in May 2006, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
Biography
He was born in Evanston, IllinoisEvanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
. His family moved to Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 38,977 people, 15,020 households, and 9,687 families residing in the township. The population density was 6,183.6 people per square mile . There were 15,531 housing units at an average density of 2,464.0 per square mile...
when he was two years old.
Whitehead graduated from Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
in 1943 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, where he commanded one of the LCVP
LCVP
The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana, United States, based on boats made for operating in swamps and marshes...
landing crafts at Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...
, in the D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
landing invasion of Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
.
In 1947 he received an MBA degree from Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
and subsequently joined the prestigious New York investment bank of Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
. He rose to become chairman over a total of 38 years at the firm, and retired in 1984 as Co-Chairman and Co-Senior Partner.
He served as United States Deputy Secretary of State
United States Deputy Secretary of State
The Deputy Secretary of State of the United States is the chief assistant to the Secretary of State. If the Secretary of State resigns or dies, the Deputy Secretary of State becomes Acting Secretary of State until the President nominates and the Senate confirms a replacement. The position was...
in Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
's administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
from 1985 to 1989 under George Shultz, and was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal
Presidential Citizens Medal
The Presidential Citizens Medal is the second highest civilian award in the United States, second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is awarded by the President of the United States, and may be given posthumously....
by President Reagan. In 1996, he was the campaign chairman for Michael Benjamin
Michael Benjamin Bonheur
Michael Benjamin was born Michael Benjamin Bonheur in New York City, New York, United States. Benjamin works as a private investor focusing on Internet companies...
who ran for a seat in New York's 8th congressional district
New York's 8th congressional district
New York's Eighth Congressional District for the United States House of Representatives in New York City. It is split into two sections. The northern portion of it includes most of Manhattan's Upper West Side, and continues south to include most parts of Hell's Kitchen, East Village, Chelsea, SoHo,...
.
He is former Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is located at 33 Liberty Street, New York, NY. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses New York state, the 12 northern counties of New Jersey,...
, the United Nations Association
United Nations Association
The United Nations Associations are non-governmental organizations that exist in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of a member state and the United Nations, raise public awareness of the UN and its work, promote the general goals of the UN and act as an advisory body...
, and a former Chairman of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City and Princeton, New Jersey in the United States, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, endowed with wealth accumulated by the late Andrew W. Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969...
and the Harvard Board of Overseers
Harvard Board of Overseers
The Harvard Board of Overseers is one of Harvard University's two governing boards...
. He is a former director of the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
and Chairman Emeritus of The Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
.
He has a long association with the Rockefeller family
Rockefeller family
The Rockefeller family , the Cleveland family of John D. Rockefeller and his brother William Rockefeller , is an American industrial, banking, and political family of German origin that made one of the world's largest private fortunes in the oil business during the late 19th and early 20th...
, having held positions at various times with family-created institutions such as Rockefeller University
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
, the Asia Society
Asia Society
The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States and around the world Hong Kong, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, and Melbourne...
(where he is Chairman Emeritus and Honorary Life Trustee), the Lincoln Center Theater and the WTC Memorial Foundation. In these organisations, and previously when he was for a time on the family's powerful Trust Committee, overseeing the family fortune and investments of the Rockefeller Group, the real estate firm that previously owned and managed Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
, he became closely associated with David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller, Sr. is the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only surviving child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the only surviving grandchild of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His five siblings were...
.
As an alumnus of Haverford College
Haverford College
Haverford College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States, a suburb of Philadelphia...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, he has had the campus center and the chair of the philosophy department named after him. The John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations
John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations
The John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations , or simply the Whitehead School, is a post-secondary, degree-granting institution concentrating on international affairs within Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey...
at Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University is a private Roman Catholic university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan university in the United States. Seton Hall is also the oldest and largest Catholic university in the...
is also named after him. He received an honorary LL.D. from Bates College
Bates College
Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
in 2004, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from The City University of New York upon the recommendation of Macaulay Honors College in 2009.
He also serves on the board of the International Rescue Committee
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee is a leading nonsectarian, nongovernmental international relief and development organization based in the United States, with operations in over 40 countries...
, an international human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organization. In 1987, he was awarded the IRC's Freedom Award, along with Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Sir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
. Other recipients of the award have included Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
, Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
, Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
, Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Korbelová Albright is the first woman to become a United States Secretary of State. She was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99–0...
, and Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
. Whitehead is an Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...
and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America . It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years after attaining the level of Eagle Scout...
. He has been Chairman of the Financial Services Volunteer Corps
Financial Services Volunteer Corps
The Financial Services Volunteer Corps was established in 1990 by John C. Whitehead and the late Cyrus R. Vance at the behest of U.S. President George H.W. Bush. It is a not-for-profit organization, headquartered in New York, whose mission is to build sound banking and financial systems in...
(FSVC) since July, 2005. He is also an Advisory Board member for the Partnership for a Secure America
Partnership for a Secure America
The Partnership for a Secure America is a policy center in the United States. It describes its mission as "recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy."...
, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to recreating the bipartisan center in American national security and foreign policy. Moreover, Whitehead sits on the Advisory Board of the Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-based think-tank Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity
Global Financial Integrity is a non-profit, research and advocacy organization located in Washington, DC. GFI advocates and conducts research on national and multilateral policies, safeguards, and agreements aimed at curtailing illicit financial flows and enhancing global development and security...
, which conducts research on illicit financial flows
Illicit financial flows
Illicit financial flows, in economics, refers to a form of illegal capital flight and occurs when money is illegally earned, transferred, or utilized. This money is intended to disappear from any record in the country of origin, and earnings on the stock of illicit financial flows outside of a...
and the damaging effects they have on developing countries.
John Whitehead is Co-Chairman of AMDeC Foundation, a 28-member organization of leaders in biomedical research and technology in New York State. Mr. Whitehead, along with AMDeC President, Dr. Maria K. Mitchell, secures funding and infrastructure support for next-generation research for New York's renown academic medical centers.
Whitehead was married to the late pioneering television newswoman, Nancy Dickerson
Nancy Dickerson
Nancy Dickerson was an American pioneering radio and television newswoman. As famous as a celebrity and socialite as she was for her journalism, she later became an award-winning independent producer of documentaries....
until her death; her son, John Dickerson, the writer, is one of his stepchildren. In 2003, Mr. Whitehead dedicated the Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Community Service Center for Homeless Youth in Southeast Washington, D.C. with a generous gift to Covenant House
Covenant House
Covenant House is the largest privately funded agency in the Americas providing shelter, food, immediate crisis care, and an array of other services to homeless, and runaway youth. In addition to basic needs, Covenant House provides a continuum of care to homeless youth aged 16–21 designed to...
.
In 2005, Whitehead published a memoir A Life In Leadership: From D-Day to Ground Zero.
In 2006, Whitehead was one of the most notable Republican donors to the campaign of Joseph Lieberman in his independent re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate.
On November 12, 2008, Whitehead, said at the Reuters Global Finance Summit the United States economy faces an economic slump deeper than the Great Depression and that a growing deficit threatens the credit of the country itself.
Select publications
- Whitehead, John C. "Towards a Stronger International Economy." Bissell Paper No. 7. Toronto: University of Toronto, Centre for International Studies, 1988.