Derek Bryson Park (born April 11, 1956) is an American businessman and public servant. Park has held a number of public positions in his career, including director of the

Federal Home Loan Banks The Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks, or FHLBank System) are 11 U.S. government-sponsored banks that provide liquidity to the members of financial institutions to support housing finance and community investment. Overview The FHLBank System was ...

, vice-chairman of

New York City Industrial Development Agency New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is a nonprofit corporation whose stated mission is to "leverage the city’s assets to create beneficial jobs that drive growth. This ensures equitable and sustainable development across al ...

and director of the

New York City Economic Development Corporation New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) is a nonprofit corporation whose stated mission is to "leverage the city’s assets to create beneficial jobs that drive growth. This ensures equitable and sustainable development across al ...

. Park has also worked in finance at several firms, including Cohane Rafferty Securities,

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...

and Wilmington Capital Securities.

Early life and education

Park attended

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977. In 1979, he earned an

MPA MPA or mPa may refer to: Academia Academic degrees * Master of Performing Arts * Master of Professional Accountancy * Master of Public Administration * Master of Public Affairs Schools * Mesa Preparatory Academy * Morgan Park Academy * Mound ...

from New York University's

Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service is the public policy school of New York University in New York City, New York. The school is named after New York City former mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. in 1989. History In 1938, NYU off ...

, and a Ph.D. from the New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science in 1982. While at NYU, Park was director of stadium operations of the

US Open Tennis Championship The US Open Tennis Championships is a hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Queens, New York. Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year. The other three, in chronological ord ...

s at Flushing Meadows in 1979, and operations manager of the

WCT Tournament of Champions The WCT Tournament of Champions (also Shakeys Tournament of Champions for sponsorship purposes in 1977 and 1978) is a defunct men's tennis tournament that was held on the WCT Tour from 1977–1990. It was held in Lakeway, Texas in 1977, Las Vegas, ...

in the early 1980s.International Who's Who In Tennis; Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 83-050904; International Standard Book No. 0-9611296 DBP 018

Career

During the 1980s, Park worked at California-based Callon Petroleum Company. In 1983, Park served on the campaign staff for the then-

Attorney General of Mississippi The Attorney General of Mississippi is the chief legal officer of the state and serves as the state's lawyer. Only the Attorney General can bring or defend a lawsuit on behalf of the state. The Attorney General is elected statewide for a four-yea ...

William Allain William Aloysius Allain (February 14, 1928 – December 2, 2013) was an American politician and lawyer who held office as the 59th Governor of Mississippi as a Democrat from 1984 to 1988. Born in Adams County, Mississippi, he attended the Un ...

during his election to become Governor. From 1985 to 1988, he was at

Interpublic Group The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG) is an American publicly traded advertising company. The company consists of five major networks: FCB, IPG Mediabrands, McCann Worldgroup, MullenLowe Group, and Marketing Specialists, as well as a n ...

, an advertising agency. In 1988, Park moved to Cohane Rafferty Securities, where he became managing director, and then worked at Lehman Brothers after the latter acquired Cohane Rafferty in 2002. He also served on the board of Southwest Security, the holding company of United Mississippi Bank. In 1999, he was appointed by the

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...

to the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York as Director, and remained in the position into the

George W. Bush Administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic in ...

until 2002. Park then went on to serve in other public positions in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, including vice-chairman of the New York City Industrial Development Agency and as a Commissioner of the New York City Commission on Human Rights. During his time as vice-chairman of the New York City Industrial Development Agency, Park collaborated with

Randy Levine Randy Lewis Levine (born February 22, 1955) is a former American attorney and the current president of the New York Yankees baseball club, a position he has held since January 2000. Early life Levine, a Jewish American, was born in Brooklyn, New ...

, president of the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, and David Cohen, executive vice president of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, to fund the construction of two new

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

stadiums in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Both the Mets and Yankees received debt financing for their stadiums, totaling $1.6 billion. In 2006, ''

The Bond Buyer ''The Bond Buyer'' is a century-old daily national trade newspaper based in New York City and focused on covering the municipal bond industry. It is published Monday through Friday, except holidays. The newspaper is printed on tabloid-sized pap ...

'' recognized Park's achievements with the Bond Buyer of the Year award, alongside Levine and Cohen for their involvement.“N.Y.C. IDA Stadium Issue Is Deal of the Year”. ''The Bond Buyer.'' New York ol. 352 / No. 32522Page 1. December 6, 2006. In 2010, Park stepped down from his roles as Vice Chair at the IDA and at the NYC Capital Resource Corporation.

Early life and education

Career

References

See also