Andrew James McKenna Sr. (September 17, 1929 – February 7, 2023) was an American businessman and chairman emeritus of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

from 2016 until his death, having been chairman from 2004 to 2016, and a director from 1991.

Early life

McKenna was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 17, 1929. He graduated from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

with a bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing, followed by a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from

DePaul University College of Law The DePaul University College of Law is the professional graduate law school of DePaul University in Chicago. The College of Law’s facilities encompass nine floors across two buildings, with features such as the Vincent G. Rinn Law Library and ...

Career

McKenna was chairman of McDonald's from 2004 to 2016. He was a director of the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

Aon Aon or AON may refer to: * Aon (mythology), son of Poseidon in Greek mythology * ''Aon'' (moth), a genus of moths in the family Erebidae * Aon (trigraph), a Latin trigraph * "Aon", a composition by jazz pianist Harold Mabern, 1968 Business and ...

, and Skyline Corporation. McKenna and Patrick Ryan, chairman of Aon together owned 19.7% of the Chicago Bears. McKenna owned Schwarz Supply Source Inc, a

Morton Grove Morton Grove is a village in Cook County, Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 25,297. The village is named after former United States Vice President Levi Parsons Morton, who helped finance the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Rail ...

-based paper company, which is a supplier to McDonald's, "making him something less than totally independent", according to ''

Crain's Chicago Business ''Crain's Chicago Business'' is a weekly business newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, IL. It is owned by Detroit-based Crain Communications Inc., Crain Communications, a privately held publishing company with more than 30 magazines, including ''Adve ...

''.

Personal life and death

McKenna married Mary Joan Pickett on June 20, 1953, and they had five daughters and two sons. His son Andrew J. McKenna Jr. is a former chairman of the

Illinois Republican Party The Illinois Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Illinois founded in May 29, 1856. It is run by the Illinois Republican State Central Committee, which consists of 18 members, one representing each of ...

. McKenna died in Winnetka, Illinois on February 7, 2023, at the age of 93.

Awards

McKenna was inducted as a laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2000 in the area of Social Services.

References

1929 births 2023 deaths McDonald's people American food industry business executives DePaul University College of Law alumni Businesspeople from Chicago University of Notre Dame Trustees Mendoza College of Business alumni {{US-business-bio-1920s-stub