Alonzo L. McDonald

Alonzo L. McDonald (born August 5, 1928) is an American businessman and philanthropist.[1]

Biography

Early life

He was born in Atlanta, Georgia.[2] He graduated from Emory University in 1948.[2][3][4] He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1950 to 1952.[2] He received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School in 1956.[2][3][4]

Career

He was a reporter for The Atlanta Journal from 1948 to 1950.[2] He worked for the Westinghouse Electric Corporation from 1956 to 1960.[2]

He worked for McKinsey & Company, serving as Partner in New York City and London, and Chief Executive Officer, until he was Managing Director when he retired in 1977.[3][4] That year, he was appointed Deputy Special Trade Representative and Ambassador in charge of the U.S. Delegation to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in Geneva.[4] In 1979, he was appointed Assistant to the President of the United States and White House Staff Director under President Jimmy Carter.[4]

He served as President and Vice Chairman of the Bendix Corporation from 1981 to 1983.[4] In 1981, he also became a faculty member of the Harvard Business School and served as Senior Counselor to the Dean until 1987.[4]

In 1983, he founded the Avenir Group, a private investment bank.[4]

He has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. Council of the International Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Club of New York, the Center for Inter-American Relations, the Harvard Business School Club of Greater New York and the French-American Foundation.[2]

Philanthropy

In 1991, together with Os Guinness, he co-founded the Trinity Forum, a Christian non-profit organization, where he serves as Senior Fellow and Trustee Emeritus.[3][4] He has donated to The Fellowship.[3]

He is the founder and Chairman of the McDonald Agape Foundation.[5] He has donated money to scholars at Harvard University, Yale University, the University of Chicago, Duke University, Emory University, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.[3] Some of his donations have gone to David N. Hempton at Harvard, Jean Bethke Elshtain at Chicago, or Sarah Coakley at Cambridge.[3] He also funded a sabbatical for Stanley Hauerwas, during which he wrote Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir (2010).[3]

Personal life

He is married to Suzanne McDonald, and they have four children.[3] They reside in Birmingham, Michigan.[3] He converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of seventy-nine.[3]

References

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