Thomas J. Donohue

Thomas J. Donohue is president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Since assuming his position in September, 1997, Donohue has revitalized the venerable business lobby, attracting additional large and small companies as members; has strengthened relations with state and local chambers; and significantly expanded the organization's policy expertise, lobbying muscle, and national profile.

Under Donohue's leadership, a new Institute for Legal Reform has been created to stop the litigation explosion; the Chamber's public policy reserach affiliate, the National Chamber Foundation, has been reinvigorated; and the Chamber's multimedia efforts have been modernized through the "cybercasting" of business information and advocacy programs on the World Wide Web.

Prior to his current post, Donohue served for 13 years as the president and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the national organization of the trucking industry. Before heading ATA, Donohue was a group vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for eight years. Prior to that, he was deputy assistant postmaster general in Washington, D.C.; regional assistant postmaster general in San Francisco and New York City; and vice president of Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Donohue serves on a number of boards of directors, including Qwest; Union Pacific Corporation; XM Satellite Radio; Sunrise Assisted Living Corporation; Marymount University; and Hudson Institute. He is also a member of the President's Advisory Committee for Trade and Policy Negotiations (ACTPN), and is president of the Center for International Private Enterprise.

Donohue earned his bachelor's degree from St. John's University and a master's degree in business administration from Adelphi University. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from Adelphi, St. John's, and Marymount Universities.