Ronald J. Gidwitz (born March 28, 1945) is an American businessman, diplomat, and political candidate who served as

United States Ambassador to Belgium In 1832, shortly after the creation of the Kingdom of Belgium, the United States established diplomatic relations. Since that time, a long line of distinguished envoys have represented American interests in Belgium. These diplomats included men ...

, while also serving as acting

United States Ambassador to the European Union This is a list of United States ambassadors to the European Union. The formal title of this position is Representative of the United States of America to the European Union, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiar ...

. Gidwitz is the son of prominent

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

businessman Gerald Gidwitz. Gidwtiz served as president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Helene Curtis Industries Helene Curtis Industries, Inc. was an American cosmetics and beauty parlor products firm based in Chicago. The company acquired a hair-coloring line through the acquisition of a competitor business. Later the retailer diversified into the field of p ...

, which was sold to

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

in 1996. In 1998, Gidwitz co-founded the

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

firm GCG Partners, which he served as a

partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

at. In terms of public-sector and political activities, in addition to serving as ambassador, Gidwitz held the positions of chairman of the

Illinois State Board of Education The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) administers public education in the state of Illinois. The State Board consists of nine members who are appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. Board members serve four-year terms, wit ...

from 1999 through 2003 and chairman of the Board of

City Colleges of Chicago The City Colleges of Chicago is the public community college system of the Chicago area. Its colleges offer associate degrees, certificates, free courses for the GED, and free English as a second language (ESL) courses. The City Colleges system ...

from 1991 through 1999. He ran unsuccessfully for the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nomination for

governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. He served as the Illinois state chair

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...

's 2008 presidential campaign, the Illinois state finance chair for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

2016 presidential campaign This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kir ...

, and chaired both

Kirk Dillard Kirk W. Dillard (born June 1, 1955) is an American politician and former Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Illinois State Senate, representing the 24th District from 1993 until his resignation in August 2014. He is also ...

's unsuccessful 2010 Illinois gubernatorial campaign and

Bruce Rauner Bruce Vincent Rauner (; born February 18, 1956) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and politician who served as the 42nd governor of Illinois from 2015 to 2019. Prior to his election, he was the chairman of R8 Capital Partners and chai ...

's successful 2014 Illinois gubernatorial campaign. Gidwitz has also been involved with political advocacy organizations. In addition to his private sector and political work, Gidwitz had been involved in

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

and

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

activities.

Education

Gidwitz earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

Business career

Gidwitz served as president and CEO of

, which was sold to

in 1996. He served as its CEO from 1979 through 1998. Since 1998, he has been a co-founder and

at the

firm, GCG Partners, and serves as a regional chairman for

Business Executives for National Security Business Executives for National Security (BENS) is an American nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. Prominent members include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, former Cisco chairman John P. Morgridge, and former Infor CEO Charles E. Phillips. The orga ...

in Chicago. For many years, a company controlled by Gidwitz and his brother Ralph owned the Evergreen Terrace housing project in

Joliet, Illinois Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the cit ...

, a 356-unit complex of high-rise apartments where 90% of tenants were families with young

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

single mothers. Their management of the complex attracted strong criticism, including from then-Senator

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. There were descriptions made of “inhumane conditions” and an overwhelming stench of

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excretion, excreted from the body through the urethra. Cel ...

in the complex. The mayor of Joliet described the complex as “unsafe and dangerous, a public nuisance and a blighted area”. A judge declared that the standards were “deplorable”. Gidwitz, in court, blamed the City of Joliet, claiming that they had repeatedly blocked attempts to secure federal financing for improvements. He especially noted his frustration in being turned down by the city in his effort to improve security—one of the main issues the same city had questioned.

Political career

Chairman of the Board of City Colleges of Chicago

Gidwitz was appointed chairman of the Board of

by mayor

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...

in 1991. His appointment was seen as an effort by Daley to involve the business community in the city's education reform. His tenure ended when he resigned on April 14, 1999, amid a power struggle with the new chancellor Wayne Watson. Gidwitz's tenure was highly criticized by faculty in the system. Between 1991 and 1995, the system lost $50 million in high-risk investments.

Chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education

Gidwitz was appointed a member of the

in 1999. Gidwitz soon became chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education in April 1999, having been nominated by Governor

George Ryan George Homer Ryan (born February 24, 1934) is an American former politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the 39th governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. Elected in 1998, Ryan received national attention for his 1999 mor ...

. In 1999, early into his tenure as chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education, Gidwitz made comments about the state's

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

score on

standardized testing A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a predete ...

, which accused the state's public school teachers of being inadequately trained on providing instruction on the subject. Superintendents of many school districts took issue to his remarks, with

Paul Vallas Paul Gust Vallas (born June 10, 1953) is an American politician and former superintendent of the Bridgeport Public Schools and the Recovery School District of Louisiana, former CEO of both the School District of Philadelphia and the Chicago Public ...

(the CEO of Chicago Public Schools) remarking on Gidwitz, "he's not a supporter of

public education State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

, and he has a low opinion of teachers and schools in general." Having again been nominated by Governor George Ryan, Gidwitz was reconfirmed by the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

on November 14, 2001, to continue to serve as chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education. His term expired on April 18, 2003. He continued to serve as a member of the board until the following year.

2006 gubernatorial campaign

Gidwitz was a candidate for the

nomination for

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

in the 2006 election. He came in fourth place, having been defeated by

Judy Baar Topinka Judy Baar Topinka (January 16, 1944 – December 10, 2014) was an American politician and member of the Republican Party from the U.S. State of Illinois. Originally a journalist, Topinka served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1981 ...

Rod Blagojevich Rod Blagojevich ( , born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nicknames "Blago" or "B-Rod", is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009, when ...

would go on to win the general election. Gidwitz spent $5 million of his own funds on the campaign.

Ambassadorship

In May 2018, he was nominated to become the Trump administration's Ambassador to Belgium. He was confirmed by the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

on June 28, 2018. He presented his credentials to King Philippe on July 4, 2018.

Other political work

In February 2003, Gidwitz founded the advocacy group Students First Illinois. In 2008, Gidwitz and

Greg Baise Gregory W. Baise (born April 13, 1952) is an American politician. He previously served as the longtime President and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association. Before that, Baise served in many political and governmental roles, including as ...

formed the Economic Freedom Alliance, a

527 organization A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of U.S. tax-exempt organization organized under Section 527 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (). A 527 group is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defea ...

, to oppose the passage of the

Employee Free Choice Act The Employee Free Choice Act is the name for several legislative bills on US labor law (, , , , , , , , .) which have been proposed and sometimes introduced into one or both chambers of the U.S. Congress. The bill's purpose, as taken from the 200 ...

. Gidwitz was the Illinois co-chair of

's 2008 presidential campaign. Gidwitz served as

's Illinois campaign finance chairman in the 2016 presidential election. Gidwitz served as campaign chairman and finance chair of

's unsuccessful 2010 Illinois gubernatorial campaign. Gidwitz served as campaign co-chair and finance chair for

's successful 2014 bid for Illinois governor.

Nonprofit work

During his business career, Gidwitz devoted a portion of his time to philanthropic activities. He was Chair of the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

Board of Trustees, and the Economic Development Commission of Chicago. Gidwitz also served on the boards of th
Council for Aid to Education
Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, National Board of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, the Museum of Science and Industry,

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization promoting business in the Chicago metropolitan area of the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or Am ...

and the founding Chair of the Chicago Chapter of

. In 2006, the

Boys & Girls Clubs of America Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, ...

bestowed him with the Herbert Hoover Humanitarian Award for his ‘extraordinary service to the organization and the nation's youth.’ In 2014, the

Chicago History Museum Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the in ...

gave him the Bertha Honoré Palmer Making History Award for Distinction in Civic Leadership. His leadership in promoting better educational opportunities resulted in Gidwitz receiving the

National Association of State Boards of Education The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) is a nonprofit private association that represents U.S. state and territory boards of education. Founded in 1958, the association initially met in conjunction with the annual conferenc ...

's Distinguished Service Award in 2003. Since 2013, Gidwitz has served as Chairman emeritus of the

Personal life

Gidwitz is the son of prominent Chicago businessman, Gerald Gidwitz. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Christina Gidwitz (), and two sons. His wife Christina's father was the late

James S. Kemper James Scott Kemper Sr. (November 18, 1886 - September 17, 1981) was a United States of America, U.S. businessman, philanthropist, and diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to Brazil from 1953 to 1955 and as President of the U.S. Chamber of Comme ...

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gidwitz, Ronald 1945 births Living people American chief executives Trump administration personnel Brown University alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Belgium Illinois Republicans Chairs of the Illinois State Board of Education 21st-century American diplomats