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Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. joined The Carlyle Group in January 2003 as Chairman. Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Gerstner was Chairman of the Board of IBM Corporation from April 1993 until his retirement in December 2002. He served as Chief Executive Officer of IBM from 1993 until March 2002.
Prior to joining IBM, Mr. Gerstner served for four years as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of RJR Nabisco, Inc. This was preceded by an 11-year career at American Express Company, where he was President of the parent company and Chairman and CEO of its largest subsidiary, American Express Travel Related Services Company. Prior to that, Mr. Gerstner was a Director of the management consulting firm of McKinsey & Co., Inc., which he joined in 1965.
A native of Mineola, New York, Mr. Gerstner received a bachelor's degree in engineering from Dartmouth College in 1963 and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1965. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, The Business Council, the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded honorary doctorates from a number of U.S. universities.
Mr. Gerstner is a member of the advisory board of Sony Corporation and a Director of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. He is Vice Chairman of the board of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History. In past years, he served on the boards of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, The New York Times Company, American Express Company, AT&T, Caterpillar, Inc., Jewel Companies, Melville Corporation, RJR Nabisco Holdings Co. and DaimlerChrysler Chairman’s Council.
A lifetime advocate of the importance of quality education, Mr. Gerstner created The Teaching Commission in 2003 to develop specific policy recommendations to deal with the teaching crisis America is facing. From 1996 to 2002, he co-chaired Achieve, an organization created by U.S. Governors and business leaders to drive high academic standards for public schools in the United States. At IBM, he established Reinventing Education as a strategic partnership with 21 states and school districts which utilize IBM technology and technical assistance to eliminate key barriers to school reform and improve student performance.
He has received numerous awards for his work in education, among them the Cleveland E. Dodge Medal for Distinguished Service to Education - Teachers College, Columbia University, and the Distinguished Service to Science and Education award from the American Museum of Natural History. In recognition of his efforts on behalf of public education, as well as his business accomplishments, Mr. Gerstner was awarded the designation of honorary Knight of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in June 2001.
Mr. Gerstner is the author of Who Says Elephants Can't Dance, the best-selling account of IBM's transformation; and he is the co-author of the book Reinventing Education: Entrepreneurship in America's Public Schools (Dutton 1994). | 