Jack M. Greenberg (born September 28, 1942 in

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

) was Chairman and CEO of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

Corporation from 1999 through 2002, when he was replaced by James R. Cantalupo. He was promoted to CEO in 1998, succeeding

Michael R. Quinlan Michael Robert Quinlan (born December 9, 1944) is a graduate, and currently the chairman, of Loyola University Chicago, where he was initiated into the Alpha Delta Gamma National Fraternity. Quinlan served as a director of McDonald's Corporation ...

in that role as Quinlan retained the title of Chairman. A 21-year veteran of the company, Greenberg held the top spot during a tumultuous period, with the company suffering earnings declines in each of the last seven quarters of his tenure. As Greenberg explained, "We were going through a transition from what I call a founder's company to a modern, global enterprise. There is a cultural shift from what we were to where we want to end up." A graduate of the

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...

College of Commerce (renamed the Driehaus College of Business in 2012), Greenberg also earned a juris doctor degree from the DePaul University College of Law. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Illinois CPA Society and the Chicago Bar Association, where he served as former chairman of the federal tax committee, and was president of the board of trustees of the Chicago Bar Foundation. Greenberg is a member of the

Board of Trustees. Greenberg is currently Non-Executive Chairman and Presiding Director of The Western Union Company. He originated the "Made for You" production system, a cooking platform that facilitated a broader variety of menu offerings by allowing stores to precook meat patties and finish them to order. Previously the McDonald's chain had used a "build to stock" manufacturing process, precooking, dressing and wrapping most food prior to receiving customer orders. By postponing the finishing process (dressing and wrapping sandwiches), McDonald's could offer a wider variety of sandwich combinations without significantly increasing customer wait time.

Awards

Jack M. Greenberg was inducted as a Laureate of

The Lincoln Academy of Illinois The Lincoln Academy of Illinois is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to recognizing contributions made by living Illinoisans. Named for Abraham Lincoln, the Academy administers the ''Order of Lincoln'', the highest award given ...

and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State's highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2003 in the area of Business.

References

1942 births Living people American accountants American chief executives of food industry companies American chairpersons of corporations DePaul University College of Law alumni McDonald's people Western Union people Businesspeople from Chicago People from Highland Park, Illinois 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-1940s-stub