John Dewitt Macomber (born January 13, 1928) is an American banker. He is the principal of JDM Investment Group and was the president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States from 1989 to 1992.

Biography

Macomber was a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. until 1973 and chairman and CEO of

Celanese Corporation Celanese Corporation, formerly known as Hoechst Celanese, is an American technology and specialty materials company headquartered in Irving, Texas. A Fortune 500 corporation, the company is the world’s leading producer of acetic acid, produc ...

from 1973 until 1986. He exited when the company was acquired by

Hoechst Hoechst, Hochst, or Höchst may refer to: * Hoechst AG, a former German life-sciences company * Hoechst stain, one of a family of fluorescent DNA-binding compounds * Höchst (Frankfurt am Main), a city district of Frankfurt am Main, Germany ** Fra ...

AG to become the largest chemical company. Celanese had been ahead of its time in stock buybacks, and Macomber was especially proud that 20% of company stock was "owned by middle managers and ordinary folk who are extraordinarily well off". During the 13 years he led the company, the stock increased in value by 10 times, from $24.50 to $245. Macomber is also chairman of the Council for Excellence in Government,

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping, software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation and education markets. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with a distribution c ...

and Company, and vice chairman of the

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...

. He has retired from serving on the board of directors of

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 ...

, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, The Brown Group, Inc., Chase Manhattan Bank, RJR Nabisco, Pilkington Ltd., and

Xerox Corporation Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from Stam ...

. In addition, Macomber served on the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

board and the

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its over 45 million members in over 100 countries have interests spanning every s ...

Personal life

Macomber was born in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, and served in the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

for two years. He had two older brothers, William Butts Macomber and Robert Macomber. He graduated from

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1950, and

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

in 1952.

References

Trustee Emeritus: John D. Macomber '46

. Accessed 2011-03-01. ;Specific 1928 births Living people Atlantic Council American chief executives of Fortune 500 companies Harvard Business School alumni McKinsey & Company people Yale University alumni Lehman Brothers people Phillips Academy alumni Businesspeople from Rochester, New York {{US-CEO-stub