Paul V. Applegarth
Paul V. Applegarth | |
---|---|
Born | Paul Vollmer Applegarth April 21, 1946 Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, US |
Education | Harvard Business School Harvard Law School |
Occupation(s) | business executive, financier |
Employer(s) | Finnacle Financial Advisors German Marshall Fund |
Known for | first CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation |
Awards | Baker Scholar |
Honours | White House Fellows |
Paul Vollmer Applegarth (born April 21, 1946) is an American business executive, financial consultant, banker, and lawyer.[1][2] He was the first chief executive officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, President George W. Bush's flagship project to provide development aid to poor countries.[3][4]
Early life
Applegarth was born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Alice (née Vollmer) and William "Bill" Francis Applegarth, an engineer, college professor, and manufacturer of air conditioners.[5][6] The family moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1947 where Applegarth was raised.[7][8][9]
He attended the Christ the King School, before going to the Marist School where he was manager of the football team and graduated in 1964.[5] Applegarth attended Yale University, receiving a B.A. cum laude in economics, with a minor in corporate finance and development, in 1968.[2][5][7] While there, he was a member of the fraternity of St. Anthony Hall.
From 1968 to 1970, he served as a lieutenant, then captain, in the United States Army during the Vietnam War.[3] He describes his role in Vietnam as "part Peace Corps and part Special Forces."[3] In addition to combat, he built schools and trained village chiefs.[3]
Applegarth received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1974.[2][3] He received First Year Honors and was a Baker Scholar from Harvard Business School.[2][7]
Career
Applegarth began his career with World Bank in 1974, remaining there until 1983.[3] From 1981 through 1982, he was a White House Fellow.[2] He worked for Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara at the International Finance Corporation (IFC).[2] He was also a senior advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell at the United States Department of State.[5]
He worked at Bank of America in San Francisco as head of North American investment banking and head of the global project finance business from 1983 to 1986.[2] He was also a financier with American Express/Lehman Brothers in New York City from 1987 to 1994.[3][2] Applegarth was a loaned executive, becoming the chief financial officer of the United Way of America and helping the nonprofit recover from a financial scandal.[3][4][5] In 1994, He became managing director of the Emerging Markets Partnership, working in England, Hong Kong, and Washington D.C. until 2003.[2][5]
Applegarth was managing director and chief operating officer of the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund from 2001 to 2002.[2] Sponsored by European governments, this fund combined private sector money with public funding to build power plants, roads, and other infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa.[3] Applegarth then became chief executive officer of the consulting firm, Value Enhancement International.[4]
In 2004, President George W. Bush appointed Applegarth as the first chief executive officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).[3] A new approach to foreign aid, MCC was established as an independent government organization.[3] It awarded grants to partners, some of the poorest countries in the world, who are committed to economic and political freedom.[3][10] Applegarth said the job “represents a culmination of an awful lot I’ve done in my life. The job and the whole mission seemed to be made for me.”[3] In June 2005, he announced that he would be stepping down from his CEO position after just eleven months.[10]
He was a Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund from 2005 to 2006.[2] In 2009, Applegarth joined Finnacle Financial Advisors, an international investment bank group.[2]
Awards and honors
- Alumnus of Year, Marist School, 2000[5]
- White House Fellows, 1981–1982[2]
- Baker Scholar, Harvard Business School, 1974[2]
Personal life
His family lived in Greenwich, Connecticut.[5] However, they moved to Naples, Florida sometime before 2015.[6][9] He is president of The Applegarth Tubman Medicine Hill Preservation and Educational Foundation in Maryland.[11] He speaks Chinese, French, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.[5]
References
- ^ "Katharine Applegarth and Matthew Simons". The New York Times. January 27, 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Honourable Paul V Applegarth". Finnacle Capital Advisors. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Stern, Seth (April 1, 2005). "Government Startup: Paul V. Applegarth J.D./M.B.A. '74 runs a government corporation with a new approach to foreign aid". Harvard Law Today. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
- ^ a b c Kessler, Glenn (August 10, 2004). "Reinventing US Foreign Aid at Millenium Challange Corp". archive.globalpolicy.org. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Marist Alumnus To Help U.S. Government Tackle World's Poverty, Assist Developing Nations". Georgia Bulletin. 20 May 2004. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
- ^ a b "William Francis "Bill" Applegarth". The Atlanta Constitution. January 13, 2019. pp. B6. Retrieved May 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "2 Atlanta Youths Receive Harvard University Honors". The Atlantic Constitution. November 1, 1971. p. 63. Retrieved May 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'People Who Have Hope Don't Become Terrorists'". The Atlanta Constitution. June 29, 2005. pp. F4. Retrieved May 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Alice V. Applegarth". Dorchester Star (Cambridge, Maryland). April 17, 2015. p. 13. Retrieved May 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO Paul Applegarth Announces He Plans To Step Down in Future". Millennium Challenge Corporation. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
- ^ "Bartus Trew Fund Provides Grant for Applegarth Tubman Project". Kent County News (Chestertown, Maryland). March 11, 2021. pp. A7. Retrieved May 26, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
External sources
Paul Applegate C–SPAN interview