WASHINGTON, DC – Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe announced today that David McCormick – a highly regarded former Treasury and White House official, and Co-CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates – will replace General Brent Scowcroft as the chairman of its International Advisory Board (IAB). Scowcroft stepped down to serve as chairman emeritus of the IAB in 2015.
“There’s no better person than Dave McCormick to lead the remarkable group of CEOs and top former government officials on the International Advisory Board of Washington’s most vibrant and fastest growing think tank,” said General Scowcroft, the only individual to have served two presidents as national security advisor. “His distinguished career at Commerce, Treasury, and the National Security Council, coupled with his military service and time leading a major investment firm, makes him the right person to bring fresh energy and vision to this crucial advisory group.”
McCormick said, “It is an honor to follow in General Scowcroft’s footsteps as Chairman of this extraordinary group of global leaders. The Atlantic Council’s work of galvanizing US leadership alongside worldwide allies and partners to secure the future has seldom been so urgent.”
Said Kempe, “David represents the qualities that have made the Atlantic Council the most results-oriented, dynamic organization in its field: He has a rich and successful history of public service, he has succeeded impressively in the public sector and he remains driven by the possibilities of combining America’s best public servants and public actors to address global challenges.”
The IAB is a powerful group of global business and policy leaders that serves a crucial advisory role to the Atlantic Council’s President/CEO and its board chairman. Through regular gatherings with top American decision-makers and engagement in a range of the Atlantic Council’s programs and projects, IAB members contribute richly to the Atlantic Council’s mission.
McCormick is Co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates, a global macro investment firm with more than $160 billion in assets under management making it the world’s largest hedge fund. Before joining Bridgewater, he was U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs in the Bush Administration and prior to that Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Policy and Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration. He is a former Army officer and veteran of the first Gulf War.
According to its bylaws, the IAB is comprised exclusively of sitting CEOs and chairmen of leading global companies and former government leaders of cabinet level or above. The top executives represent, among others, Airbus, Blackstone, Chevron, Lockheed Martin, Zurich Insurance, Unilever and WPP. It includes former prime ministers and presidents of Australia, Spain, Sweden and Pakistan – and former US Secretaries of Defense, Energy, Treasury and the former Director of National Intelligence. Click here to view the full list.
About the Council: The Atlantic Council promotes constructive leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the Atlantic Community’s central role in meeting global challenges. The Council provides an essential forum for navigating the dramatic economic and political changes defining the twenty-first century by informing and galvanizing its uniquely influential network of global leaders. Through the papers we write, the ideas we generate, and the communities we build, the Council shapes policy choices and strategies to create a more secure and prosperous world.