George Muñoz is an American businessman, CPA and attorney. He is the president and co-founder of Muñoz Investment Banking Group which is primarily focused on financing and investments in the Emerging Markets Countries as well as in the U.S.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

community. He is also a partner at Tobin & Muñoz, a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

-based law firm focused on commercial litigation, white collar investigations and litigation, and international transactions, where he works out of the firm's Chicago and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

offices.

Early life and education

Muñoz earned his BBA degree in accounting at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

(Business Honors Program 1974). He received a J.D. degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

and a

Master of Public Policy The Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a graduate-level professional degree. It provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to pu ...

from

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

in 1978. He received a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

in Taxation degree from

DePaul University College of Law DePaul University College of Law is the law school of DePaul University, a private Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 125 full- and part-time faculty members and enrolls more than 500 students in its Juri ...

in 1984 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Theology in 2019. Later, Muñoz taught MBA courses at Georgetown University.

Career

Muñoz is licensed in several states as an attorney and

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

. He is a Certified Financial Planner and formerly served on the

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., is an American 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization that sets and upholds standards for financial planning. It administers Certified Financial Planner (CFP) certification, which is held by mor ...

. In February 1984, Chicago mayor

Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st mayor of Chicago. In April 1983, Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city’s mayor at the age of ...

appointed Muñoz to the

Chicago Board of Education The Chicago Board of Education serves as the board of education (school board) for the Chicago Public Schools. The board traces its origins to the Board of School Inspectors, created in 1837. The board is currently made up of 11 members appoin ...

. Three months later, in May 1984, Muñoz was elected by the board as its president. He served three one-year terms as president. In May 1987, he announced that he would not be seeking an additional term as president. He was the first Hispanic person to head the board and one of its youngest presidents. He became a national advocate for school reform and drop-out prevention programs. He was a partner at

Mayer, Brown & Platt Mayer Brown is a global white-shoe law firm, founded in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It has offices in 27 cities throughout the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, with its largest offices being in Chicago, Washington, D.C., New Y ...

. He served as a member of the Chicago Economic Development Commission. Muñoz was an assistant secretary and chief financial officer of the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

from 1993 to 1997. He was the president and CEO of the

Overseas Private Investment Corporation The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was the United States Government's Development finance institution until it merged with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (U ...

(OPIC) from 1997 to 2001. OPIC, "the federal government's export promotion arm," provides political risk insurance, financing and private equity funds to US private sector investments in developing countries. When OPIC's future was in danger of not being reauthorized by the US Congress, Munoz is credited with turning things around for the agency and received bi-partisan support for its continuation as the primary agency for assisting private sector investments in the Emerging Market Countries.

Advisory positions

Muñoz is a member of the board of directors of

Altria Group Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc. until 2003) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes, and medical products in the treatment of illnesses c ...

(since 2004),

Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging brands that include hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. Marriott International owns over 37 ho ...

(since 2002) and

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

. Muñoz recently retired from his board positions on

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

(in 2023) and Black Rifle Company (in 2024). Muñoz was appointed to the President's Commission on White House Fellows by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in 2009, and served until 2017.

Personal life

Muñoz currently resides in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. He has a wife, Kathy, and two twin sons, Mario and Manuel (b. 2002).

Works

Muñoz is co-author of the book ''Renewing the American Dream: A Citizen's Guide For Restoring Our Competitive Advantage'' (2010, IMC Publishing). The book discusses what America needs to do to keep its global competitive advantage and how the next 10 years (2010–2020) will determine if the United States retains its global leadership position in this 21st century.

References

External links

George Munoz-Our Team-Munoz Group Investment Banking

George Munoz-Tobin and Munoz L.L.C.
1951 births Altria American chief executives of financial services companies Businesspeople from Chicago Clinton administration personnel DePaul University College of Law alumni Harvard Law School alumni Illinois Democrats Harvard Kennedy School alumni Living people McCombs School of Business alumni National Geographic Society Overseas Private Investment Corporation officials United States Department of the Treasury officials Presidents of the Chicago Board of Education Catholic International University people {{Presidents of the Chicago Board of Education, state=collapsed