Contact:
Kristin Aguilera, Deputy Director
Museum of American Finance
212-908-4695
kaguilera@moaf.org
New York, NY – Peter G. Peterson has been selected to receive the Museum of American Finance’s 2011 John C. Whitehead Award for Distinguished Public Service and Financial Leadership. The award is presented annually to a person who has demonstrated a high order of achievement and leadership in the field of finance, and also served with notable distinction in the public sector. It is named after John C. Whitehead, former Deputy Secretary of State and Co-Chair of Goldman Sachs who has headed numerous public service organizations.
Peterson is the Founder and Chairman of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which focuses on “undeniable, unsustainable and untouchable” threats to the nation’s fiscal and economic future and to future generations of Americans. He also serves as Chairman Emeritus and Co-founder of The Blackstone Group, a private investment banking firm, and is the Chairman Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also founding Chairman of the Peterson Institute for International Economics and founding President of The Concord Coalition. Mr. Peterson was the Co-Chair of The Conference Board Commission on Public Trust and Private Enterprise. He was also Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 2000 to 2004.
Prior to founding Blackstone, Mr. Peterson was Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers (1973-1977) and later Chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb Inc. (1977-1984). He was Chairman and CEO of Bell and Howell Corporation from 1963 to 1971. In 1971, President Richard Nixon named Mr. Peterson Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs. He was named Secretary of Commerce by President Nixon in 1972. He has received a number of honorary PhD degrees and is the author of several books on the state of the American economy and its politics as well as his recently published memoir.
The Museum of American Finance will present this award to Mr. Peterson at its annual gala on Monday, January 10, 2011. For information on this event, please contact Director of Development Jeanne Baker Driscoll at 212-908-4694 of jdriscoll@moaf.org.
About the Museum of American Finance
The Museum of American Finance, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the nation’s only public museum dedicated to finance, entrepreneurship and the open market system. With its extensive collection of financial documents and objects, its seminars and educational programming, its publication and oral history program, the Museum portrays the breadth and richness of American financial history, achievement and practices. The Museum is located at 48 Wall Street, on the corner of William Street, and is open Tues–Sat, 10 am – 4 pm.