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Alonzo L. McDonald (August 5, 1928 - November 21, 2019) was an American businessman and philanthropist.[1][2]
Early life
He was born in Atlanta, Georgia.[3] He graduated from Emory University in 1948.[3][4][5] He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1950 to 1952.[3] He received an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School in 1956.[3][4][5]
Career
He was a reporter for The Atlanta Journal from 1948 to 1950.[3] He worked for the Westinghouse Electric Corporation from 1956 to 1960.[3]
He worked for McKinsey & Company, serving as Partner in New York City and London, and Chief Executive Officer, until he was Managing Director when he retired in 1977.[4][5] That year, he was appointed Deputy Special Trade Representative and Ambassador in charge of the U.S. Delegation to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in Geneva.[5] In 1979, he was appointed Assistant to the President of the United States and White House Staff Director under President Jimmy Carter.[5]
He served as President and Vice Chairman of the Bendix Corporation from 1981 to 1983.[5] In 1981, he also became a faculty member of the Harvard Business School and served as Senior Counselor to the Dean until 1987.[5]
In 1983, he founded the Avenir Group, a private investment bank.[5]
He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. Council of the International Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Club of New York, the Center for Inter-American Relations, the Harvard Business School Club of Greater New York and the French-American Foundation.[3]
Philanthropy
In 1991, together with Os Guinness, he co-founded the Trinity Forum, a Christian non-profit organization, where he served as Senior Fellow and Trustee Emeritus.[4][5] He donated to The Fellowship.[4]
He was the founder and Chairman of the McDonald Agape Foundation.[6] He donated money to scholars at Harvard University, Yale University, the University of Chicago, Duke University, Emory University, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.[4] Some of his donations went to David N. Hempton at Harvard, Jean Bethke Elshtain at Chicago, or Sarah Coakley at Cambridge.[4] He also funded a sabbatical for Stanley Hauerwas, during which he wrote Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir (2010).[4]
Personal life
He was married to Suzanne McDonald, and they had four children.[4] They resided in Birmingham, Michigan.[4] He converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of seventy-nine.[4] He has 12 grandchildren.
His son Alex McDonald is an author of books regarding the Israeli Palestine conflicts.
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