Chairman
Treasurer
Dr. James H. Cavanaugh has been a pharmaceutical executive for the last 40 years, including as president of Allergan International. He was also president of SmithKline & French Laboratories U.S., Inc., the pharmaceutical division of SmithKline Beckman Corporation.
Dr. Cavanaugh was a Board Director of Verenium from 1992 to 2013 and Verenium’s Chairman from 1998 to 2013. He has been a Managing Director of HealthCare Ventures LLC, a venture capital management company since 1988.
Prior to his pharmaceutical industry experience, Dr. Cavanaugh was Staff Assistant to President Nixon for Health Affairs on the Domestic Council and Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Ford. He served as Deputy White House Chief of Staff under Dick Cheney in Ford White House.
Dr. Cavanaugh holds a Doctorate and a Master’s degree from the University of Iowa and a Bachelor of Science degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University. In addition to serving on Boards of several privately held health care and biotechnology companies, he was non-executive chairman of Shire Pharmaceuticals Group plc from 1999 to 2008. He served on the Board of MedImmune, Inc. from 1990 until it was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2007, and was Chairman of Vicuron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from its inception until it was acquired by Pfizer in 2005. Dr. Cavanaugh currently serves on the Board of Colorescience, Inc.
John H. Barr has served as a business professional and corporate manager in the Southern California area for the past four decades. He has been a Board Director of the Nixon Foundation since 1990, and currently serves as Treasurer.
He served as a principal of the Pacific Land Company of Paramount, CA . He is currently the owner at J&B Investments and a partner at Barr Properties, LP.
In addition to his work with the Nixon Foundation, Mr. Barr has also served as a member of the Oak Tree Racing Association since 1997.
Mr. Barr served in the U.S. Army and currently resides with his wife, Betty, in Anaheim, CA.
Everett Alvarez, Jr. is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Alvarez & Associates LLC, serves as an Advisor of Fortified Data Communications, Inc. and President of Conwal, Inc.
Mr. Alvarez was the longest-held POW of the Vietnam War. He was captured in August 1964 and released in February 1973.
Mr. Alvarez retired from the US Navy with the rank of Commander in 1980, and was appointed Deputy Director of the Peace Corps and later Deputy Administrator for the Veterans Affairs Administration under President Ronald Reagan.
Mr. Alvarez has committed himself to helping others in the pursuit of higher education. He has served as Chairman of Board of Regents at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, a Member of the Board of Governors at Grantham University, and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Graduate University of Democracy in Washington, D.C. In addition, he served on the College of William & Mary, Washington, D.C. Council and is a Lifetime Member of the Board of Fellows of the University of Santa Clara.
In addition, Mr. Alvarez serves as a Member of Board of Advisors of Cranite Systems, Inc. and has been Member of the Advisory Board of Fortified Holdings Corp. since 2007.
He serves on many volunteer boards, among which is the Board of Regents of the USUHS. He served on the President’s Task Force to improve Health Care Delivery for Nation’s Veterans, the Board of Directors of the Armed Services YMCA of the USA, the White House Board of Fellows Selection Committee, and the Library of Congress Veterans History Project Five Star Council Advisory Committee.
Mr. Alvarez is a nationally recognized figure who has made valuable contributions to society. He holds numerous military decorations, among which are the Silver Star, two Legions of Merit (with Combat “V”), two Bronze Stars (with Combat “V”), the Distinguished Flying Cross and two Purple Heart Medals. Santa Clara University has given Mr. Alvarez the Alumnus of Distinction award.
He is a lawyer, author and entrepreneur. He holds an Honorary Doctorate in Public Service from Santa Clara University.
Lisa Argyros, Member of the Board of the Argyros Family Foundation, a champion of civic education, charitable causes and the arts whose family has led and sustained the Nixon Foundation since its inception.
She serves as Member of the Board of Trustees at New Majority, a Member of the Board of Trustees at Boy Scouts of America, a Member of the Board of Trustees at Chapman University, and a Member of the Board of Trustees at Orange County School of the Arts.
Robert J. (Bob) Brown is Chairman and CEO of B&C Associates, Inc., a management consulting, marketing research and public relations firm, with a roster of Fortune 500 clients including the Coca-Cola Company, Sara Lee Corporation, General Motors, Office Depot and Nissan Corporation. It is the oldest African-American owned public relations firm in the United States.
The great-grandson of a slave, Brown, was born in High Point, North Carolina. In his youth, Brown attended the Baldwin Chapel Church School before going on to graduate from William Penn High School. In 1956, he became a police officer in High Point and trained under O. H. Leak, a well-known African American police officer. A few years later in 1960, Brown started B&C Associates.
Mr. Brown served as Special Assistant to President Nixon from 1969 to 1973 and directed the administration’s creation of the Office of Minority Business Enterprise and successfully develop and expand minority enterprise.
Mr. Brown served as a director of Wachovia Corporation from 1993 until 2007, Sonoco Products Company from 1993 until 2007, and Duke Energy Corporation, an electric power company, from 1994 until 2005.
In 1993, Mr. Brown founded the South African Booksmart Foundation. Since its inception, the Booksmart Foundation has shipped nearly two million books to South Africa. In recent years, Brown has been the recipient of the Horatio B. Alger Award. Brown currently serves on the board of trustees of the Rosetta C. Baldwin Museum.
He resides in High Point, North Carolina.
John H. Carley practiced law in New York City from 1968 until 1981, becoming a litigation partner in the law firm of Rogers & Wells headed by former United States Attorney General and Secretary of State William P. Rogers.
In 1971, President Richard Nixon appointed Mr. Carley to the Board of Foreign Scholarships in the State Department, which administered the Fulbright Scholarship Program. In 1981, Mr. Carley joined the Reagan Administration as General Counsel of the Federal Trade Commission and in 1985 was appointed General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President where he advised senior White House staff on matters affecting the federal budget and public policy.
In 1987 Mr. Carley left Washington to return to New York City to practice law at Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine until Mayor Rudolph Guiliani asked him in 1994 to join his new administration as Special Counsel to the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Finance. Later that year the newly-elected New York State Attorney General asked Mr. Carley to become Deputy Attorney General for Public Advocacy where he was responsible for all civil litigation commenced on behalf of the State and was the trial counsel in the dispute over the Estate of Doris Duke.
Following the acquisition of Avis, Inc, by HFS, Inc. in 1996, Mr. Carley became Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Avis from which he later joined Cendant which resulted from the merger of HFS with CUC International, Inc. Mr. Carley was appointed Senior Vice President – Legal and Regulatory Affairs at Cendant Corporation on June 1, 1998 where he supervises all major litigation.
Mr. Carley graduated from Rutgers University in 1962 and Yale Law School in 1968. He also served as a United States Army officer from 1963 to 1965. Mr. Carley resides in New York City and Long Island with his wife, Pia Lindström.
Christopher Nixon Cox is the son of Tricia Nixon Cox and Edward F. Cox, and grandson of President and Mrs. Nixon.
Cox is a non-resident fellow at Princeton’s Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination. Previously, he was a corporate associate at the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York where he advised major private equity fund clients on acquisitions.
In 2008, Cox was the Executive Director for New York State in Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign.
He holds a B.A. in politics from Princeton University, a J.D. from the New York University School of Law and a certificate in finance from New York University Stern School. He currently resides in New York City.
The elder daughter of President Richard Nixon, Tricia Nixon Cox is a well-known advocate for inner-city educational initiatives, the advancement of women in politics, and philanthropic giving.
In the White House, Mrs. Cox served as America’s hostess, and worked with her mother, First Lady Pat Nixon, to open the White House to underprivileged youth. She hosted annual Halloween parties for disabled youth and regularly tutored inner-city schoolchildren on such subjects as reading, writing and arithmetic.
In 1971, she married Edward Finch Cox in a White House Rose Garden ceremony. The Coxes have a son, Christopher.
Mrs. Cox attended Finch College in Manhattan, New York. At her graduation on June 14, 1968, her father served as a special guest speaker. Mrs. Cox was presented at the International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City in 1964.
Mrs. Cox currently serves as a trustee for the Richard Nixon Foundation, and serves on the boards of several medical research facilities. She resides in New York City.
The younger daughter of President Richard Nixon, Julie Nixon Eisenhower is a best-selling author, editor, and speaker on such subjects as the presidency, women in politics, and life in the White House.
She is the author of three books – Pat Nixon: The Untold Story; Special People; and Julie Eisenhower’s Cookbook for Children – and has lectured for more than 40 years to groups ranging from town halls to universities .
Mrs. Eisenhower began her career as a writer and assistant managing editor of The Saturday Evening Post, where she helped establish a book division for the Indiana-based parent company and edited a series of anthologies and children’s books.
She is also a lifelong volunteer. During the Nixon administration (1969 to 1974), her efforts on behalf of children, the elderly, and the environment led her to be voted one of the Ten Most Admired Women in America by Good Housekeeping readers on four occasions. Throughout the 1980s, she was an advocate for special needs children, serving on the boards of the National Adoption Center and Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum for Children. She has also served on the boards for the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, the Washington Crossing Foundation, and the Pearl S. Buck Foundation. In 1991, she was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania for her community service.
She married David Eisenhower, grandson of President Eisenhower, at the New York Marble Collegiate Church in December 1968 – just weeks before her father was sworn in as president. They have three children – Jennie, Alex and Melanie – and three grandchildren.
Mrs. Eisenhower currently serves as a trustee for the Richard Nixon Foundation. She was previously a trustee at Eisenhower Medical Center, the China Institute in New York and the advisory board of A Few Good Women: Advancing the Cause of Women in Government at Penn State University.
From 2002 to 2006, Mrs. Eisenhower served as Chair of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, which fosters leadership in the nation’s most exceptional young adults.
A needlework enthusiast, her designs have raised funds for the Girl Scouts of America and the White House Historical Association. Mrs. Eisenhower received a BA from Smith College and her MA from the Catholic University of America.
Melanie Eisenhower is the youngest daughter of Julie Nixon Eisenhower and David Eisenhower. She is the granddaughter of President and Mrs. Richard Nixon and the great-granddaughter of President and Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Eisenhower is a Child Life Specialist in the oncology department at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, providing psychosocial and emotional support to children and their families undergoing radiation treatment. Previously, she was a Child Life Specialist at the Children’s Hospital at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York City for several years before returning home to Philadelphia.
She received her B.S. from the University of Richmond, majoring in Rhetoric and Communication Studies with a minor in History and her M.S. in Child Life from Bank Street College of Education in New York City.
John W. Hamilton is a Southern California businessman, real estate developer and sports enthusiast. Since 1977, Mr. Hamilton has worked in the real estate development and construction field and currently serves as president of the Hamilton Company, which he founded in 1982, a residential and commercial real estate agency in Newport Beach.
Mr. Hamilton founded the Newport Sports Museum in Newport Beach, a nonprofit 501 3(c) designed to promote youth involvement in organized sports. The museum housed 12,000 items of sports memorabilia. Besides displaying rare sports artifacts from around the world, the Newport Sports Museum’s mission was to keep youngsters in school and off of drugs by getting them involved in athletics. In 2003, Mr. Hamilton also co-founded and now chairs the IMPACT Foundation at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach, which annually awards the Lott IMPACT Trophy to the nation’s top defensive college football player; the IMPACT Foundation has presented more than $500,000 to local and national scholarships and charities. Mr. Hamilton was the driving force behind the development of the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 and has served as its chairman since its inception.
Mr. Hamilton has been active in many other organizations throughout the years. He has served as a Board Member of the Richard Nixon Foundation, as President of Big Canyon County Club, on the Board of Goodwill Industries, as President of the Pacific Club, on the Advisory Board for City National Bank, and has been a member of the USC Associate Board of Directors, and involved in local youth athletic groups and Big Brothers.
He is a recipient of the Marine Corps’ John Wooden Award, USC Alumni Service Award, and membership in the Honorary National Society of the Skull and Dagger.
A native of Orange County, Mr. Hamilton graduated from the University of Southern California in 1964. His mother, Patricia Reilly Hitt, served as the first female national co-chair of a presidential campaign – Richard Nixon’s in 1968 – and served as assistant secretary of Health, Education and Welfare as the highest-ranking woman in President Nixon’s first administration.
Hugh Hewitt is a tenured Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law, a columnist for The Washington Post and host of the nationally syndicated show on the Salem Radio Network, The Hugh Hewitt Show. He was a panelist on four CNN Republican Primary Debates in 2016 and is a frequent panelist on NBC’s Meet the Press. He is President, CEO and General Counsel of the Richard Nixon Foundation.
Hewitt graduated cum laude with a BA in Government from Harvard in 1978. After leaving Harvard, he worked first for David Eisenhower, then for former President Richard Nixon, as a researcher and writer in San Clemente, California and New York. During this time, he worked on President Nixon’s books The Real War and Leaders. At President Nixon’s urging, Hugh attended the University of Michigan School of Law where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif and graduated magna cum laude in 1983.
Hewitt clerked for Judges Roger Robb and George MacKinnon on the D.C. Court of Appeals in 1983-84. He served President Ronald Reagan as Deputy Director and General Counsel of the Office of Personnel Management, General Counsel for the National Endowment for the Humanities, and as Assistant White House Counsel and Special Assistant to the Attorney General. In 1989, he returned to California at President Nixon’s request to oversee the Nixon Library project from groundbreaking through Grand Opening on July 19, 1990.
Hewitt is the author of a dozen books, including two New York Times best-sellers.
Lawrence M. Higby is a corporate executive with over 30 years of experience, including as Chief Executive Officer of Apria Healthcare Group Inc., from 2002 to 2008 and President and Chief Operating Officer from 1997 to 2004.
Prior to Apria, he served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of Unocal 76 Products Company and Group Vice President of Unocal Corporation from 1994 to 1997. From 1986 to 1994, he was with Times Mirror Company as Executive Vice President of Marketing of the Los Angeles Times. He was the President and Chief Operating Officer of America’s Pharmacy Inc., (a division of Caremark Inc.).
From 1974 to 1985, he served in executive management positions in sales and marketing at various divisions of PepsiCo, including Vice President of Marketing in North America. Prior to that, he was the Assistant to White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman in the Nixon administration from 1969 to 1973.
Mr. Higby served as Chairman of the New Majority California, and served as Chairman of the Orange County chapter. He also serves on several corporate and nonprofit boards, including as the former Chairman of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, a Director of the Automobile Club of Southern California, a Director of the Bipartisan Policy Center and a Board Member of the Richard Nixon Foundation and Chair of the Nominations and Compensation Committees.
Mr. Higby holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science of the University of California, Los Angeles and also attended the University of California’s Graduate School of Business. He is a recipient of the Horatio Alger Award.
Ming Hsieh is Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fulgent Therapeautics.
Prior to founding Fulgent, Mr. Hsieh served as Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the board of directors of Cogent, Inc., or Cogent, a biometric identification services and products company he co-founded in 1990, which was acquired by 3M in 2010.
Prior to his tenure at Cogent, Mr. Hsieh founded and served as Vice President of AMAX Technology from 1987 to 1990. Mr. Hsieh currently serves on the board of directors of Fortinet, Inc., a network security company traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “FTNT.”
An engineer raised in the throes of the Cultural Revolution, Mr. Hsieh emigrated from China in 1981. He received a B.S.E.E. from the University of Southern California in 1983 and an M.S.E.E. from USC in 1984, as well as honorary doctoral degrees from USC in 2010 and the University of West Virginia in 2011. He joined the Board of the Richard Nixon Foundation in 2019.
Mr. Hsieh has served as a trustee at USC since 2007 and at Fudan University in China since 2011.
In 2015, Mr. Hsieh was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
Tod Hullin is senior vice president of Public Policy for The Boeing Company, and a member of the company’s Executive Council. In this position, he leads the company’s worldwide public policy efforts, including all U.S. federal, state and local government liaison operations for Boeing.
Hullin has extensive public policy experience in both the public and private sectors – in the aerospace, pharmaceutical and entertainment industries, as well as in the U.S. government.
He joined Boeing in 2003 and served as the company’s senior communications executive. He has had overall responsibility for public relations, executive and employee communications, advertising and branding, and international communications.
Prior to joining Boeing, Hullin held the senior public policy position at Vivendi Universal. Previously, he had served as the senior global public policy and communications officer for The Seagram Company, Time Warner and SmithKline Beecham. He was vice president of the Interstate General Corporation from 1977 to 1983.
Hullin began his professional career in 1969 in the Nixon administration as a member of the White House staff. He moved to the White House Domestic Council staff in 1971 and to the Domestic Council for Housing and Community Development in 1974.
In 1976 he was appointed the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Public Affairs. He was the second-ranking executive charged with developing, coordinating, managing and monitoring the worldwide external and internal communications plans for the Department of Defense. In this capacity, he also served as official spokesman at news conferences and briefings.
Hullin graduated from the University of Washington in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in business.
Maureen Drown Nunn is a teacher, author, speaker, trainer, interpreter, and a mother of five.
Her career has spanned a variety of disciplines, including her current outreach efforts as an interpreter for Doctors Without Borders.
Mrs. Nunn was the host of a television talk show Moments with Maureen, a 30-minute syndicated program that leapt high above standard talk shows to help everyday people overcome everyday challenges, by learning from others who had overcome adversity and succeeded.
Not only is she an experienced television host with over 15 years in the entertainment business, her other successful nationally syndicated show, Everyday Heroes, won a Cable Ace award.
Mrs. Nunn also hosted a weekly Spanish call-in show with Lety Dominguez Bolivar called Comunidad Latina con Maria y Lety, and was awarded three Diamond Awards and a President’s Award. She studied Spanish in school and found that her language skills created opportunities to hurdle cultural barriers and help others to succeed.
Mrs. Nunn managed her career while being a mother and achieved success in both her professional and her family life.
She attended Perdue University and obtained her MA in Spanish/Education from the University of Southern California. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Richard (Sandy) Quinn was President of the Richard Nixon Foundation from 2010 to 2014. He was an assistant to Richard Nixon traveling with him during his 1962 California gubernatorial bid. He later served on the staff of Governor Ronald Reagan, including as 1967 Inaugural Committee Chairman, and later served as Chief of Staff for U.S. Senator George Murphy in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Quinn was head of marketing for Walt Disney World in Florida through construction, the opening in 1971 and several years of operation, and later joined the Marriott Corp. as a division Vice President.
He was President of Quinn/Brein Marketing & Communications for many years, serving blue chip corporate accounts throughout the United States. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in business.
J. Peter Simon co-founded William E. Simon and Sons (WES&S), along with his late father, former Treasury Secretary William E. Simon, and his brother, Bill Simon, Jr. in 1988. He currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Firm and its Investment Group and is also Co-Chairman of the William E. Simon Foundation.
Mr. Simon was previously employed by Kidder Peabody in New York City from 1975 to 1988. At Kidder Peabody, he rose to Managing Director in the convertible securities department.
Mr. Simon earned a BA in Psychology from Lafayette College and also attended NYU’s Graduate School of Business.
Currently, Mr. Simon also serves on the Board of Directors of Puck Holdings (NJ Devils), is an appointed member of the New Jersey State Board of Education and is a member of the Board of Trustees at Lafayette College. At Lafayette College he is Chairman of the Endowment Committee and serves on both the Easton Committee and the Student Life Committee. At the University of Rochester he is Chairman of The William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Executive Advisory Committee.
Philanthropically, Mr. Simon donates his time to a broad variety of charitable entities. He is Chairman of the Morristown Memorial Health Foundation Board of Trustees and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Richard Nixon Foundation. At the Richard Nixon Foundation he is also Chairman of the Investment Committee and a member of the Executive/Nominations Committee. Currently he is a member of the Covenant House New Jersey Board of Directors, a member of the New Vernon Cemetery Association, a member of the Board of the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, and a provisional member of the Charles Hayden Foundation.
Past philanthropic commitments include the Alliance for School Choice Board of Trustees, serving as Chairman of the Finance Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee. He served on the Gladney Center Board of Trustees, the National Council for Adoption Board of Trustees and the Peck School Board of Trustees. He was also a member of the New Jersey Seeds Advisory Committee and a member of the Teen Ranch Foundation in Ontario, Canada.
Mr. Simon resides in Green Village, NJ with his wife Janet and their four children.
Daniele C. Struppa, Ph.D. is the thirteenth president of Chapman University, effective September 1, 2016. Previously, Dr. Struppa held the position of Chancellor at Chapman University.
Dr. Struppa joined Chapman University in 2006 as provost, responsible for creating and implementing academic priorities for the University and for the allocation of resources to support those priorities. In 2007, with the addition of further leadership responsibilities, he was appointed as Chapman’s first chancellor.
He came to Chapman University from George Mason University, where he served as director of the Center for the Applications of Mathematics, as chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, and as associate dean for graduate studies. In 1997, he was selected dean of George Mason’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Prior to his tenure at George Mason, Dr. Struppa held positions at the University of Milano (Milan, Italy), the Scuola Normale Superiore (Pisa, Italy) and the University of Calabria (Calabria, Italy).
Dr. Struppa earned his laurea in mathematics from the University of Milan, Italy in 1977, and received his doctorate degree in mathematics from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1981. In recognition of his work, he has been awarded the Bartolozzi Prize from the Italian Mathematical Union (1981), and the Matsumae Medal from the Matsumae International Foundation of Tokyo (1987).
In 2006, the BIO-IT Coalition (a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., and dedicated to the support of bioinformatics) established a new prize in Dr. Struppa’s honor – the “Professor Daniele Struppa Award” – which is designed to honor high school teachers in math, science and technology.
Dr. Struppa is the author of more than 200 refereed publications, and he is the editor of several volumes. He has edited or co-authored more than ten books. He joined the Richard Nixon Foundation Board in 2019.
Ronald H. Walker was a senior partner with Korn/Ferry International, the world’s largest executive search firm, for over 20 years. At Korn/Ferry, Mr. Walker’s client base included Fortune 100 companies.
Mr. Walker’s extensive record of government services includes Special Assistant to President Nixon from 1969 to 1972 where he was the first director of the White House Office of Presidential Advance. In this position, he was responsible for planning and coordinating all Presidential travel, domestic and international. Those visits included all 50 states and 25 countries. He personally directed the preparations for the President’s historic trips to the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union.
President Nixon appointed Mr. Walker the 8th Director of the National Park Service in December 1972 where he served until 1975. In this position, he was charged with the preservation and care of the country’s 300 National Park System areas encompassing 300 million acres of land. He administered a budget of $350 million and managed 15,000 employees who serve the 230 million people that visit America’s parklands annually.
Mr. Walker previously served as a consultant to the White House Personnel Office. He has also served as a senior advisor to four Presidents and on Special Diplomatic assignments abroad. In addition, he has served as a senior advisor to nine Republican Conventions, highlighted by his Chairmanship and position of CEO of the 1984 Republican National Convention held in Dallas, Texas. At the request of President Ronald Reagan, he also chaired the 50th Presidential Inauguration.
Mr. Walker has served on numerous Boards, both public and private, including as a public sector member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the Richard Nixon Foundation, the Kennedy Center, Vice Chair of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, past chairman of the Freedom’s Foundation at Valley Forge, the National Park Foundation, Grand Teton National Park Foundation, Ford’s Theatre, and Vice Chairman of the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution.
Mr. Walker is a distinguished graduate from the University of Arizona with a BA in Government and American History. He also served in the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of captain.
Pete Wilson has dedicated more than 30 years to serving the citizens of California, including as Governor of California for two terms (1991 to 1999), eight years as a U.S. senator (1983 to 1991), eleven years as mayor of San Diego (1971 to 1983) and five years as a California state assemblyman (1967 to 1971). He is now a principal in Bingham Consulting Group, based in the firm’s Los Angeles office. He is also of counsel to Bingham McCutchen.
As Governor, he is credited with leading California from the depths of recession to prosperous economic recovery. Insisting on strict budget discipline and rehabilitation of the state’s then-hostile environment toward investment and job creation, Governor Wilson provided for market-based unsubsidized health coverage for employees of small businesses and obtained anti-fraud measures that drove down workers’ compensation premiums by 40 percent.
Governor Wilson also successfully pushed to enactment sweeping welfare reforms, including time limits and work requirements, and historic education reforms, including rigorous curricular standards, class-size reduction, and the replacement of social promotion with early, effective remedial education. He also began new programs of individualized testing of all students, teacher-competency and training, a longer instructional year, and a return to phonics and early mastery of reading, writing and mathematical skills. Governor Wilson led efforts to enact tougher crime measures and signed into law “Three Strikes,” (25 years to life for repeat felons) and “One Strike,” (25 years to life upon the first conviction of aggravated rape or child molestation). He left office with a public approval rating identical to that received by Ronald Reagan at the conclusion of his service as Governor.
After leaving office, he spent two years as a managing director of Pacific Capital Group, a merchant bank based in Los Angeles. He serves as a director of the Irvine Company, U.S. Telepacific Corporation, Inc., National Information Consortium Inc. and IDT Entertainment.
He is the Chairman of the National World War II Museum, and serves on the Board of the Richard Nixon Presidential Foundation, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, and the Donald Bren Foundation and is a founding director of the California Mentor Foundation.
He has received the Woodrow Wilson Institute Award for Distinguished Public Service and the Patriots Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
A lawyer by trade, he graduated from Berkeley School of Law and is a proud U.S. Marine. He worked as an advance man on Richard Nixon’s campaign for Governor of California in 1962.