Jack Markell
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Jack A. Markell (born November 26, 1960) is an American businessman and Governor of Delaware from Centerville, in New Castle County, Delaware. He is a member of the Democratic Party, who previously served as state treasurer of Delaware for three terms. Markell took the oath of office as the 73th governor of Delaware on January 20, 2009, becoming the state's first Jewish governor.
Early Life and Family
Markell graduated from Newark High School and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, with degrees in economics and development studies and received an MBA degree from the University of Chicago. He is married to Carla Markell, whom he met while attending Newark High School. They have two children, Molly and Michael.
Professional career
Markell served as Vice President for Corporate Development at Nextel, where he was responsible for coming up with the name “Nextel,”] and helping to lead the movement to wireless technology. His other work experience included a senior management position at Comcast Corporation as well as posts as a consultant at McKinsey and Company, Inc. and as a banker at First Chicago Corporation.
Treasurer
Markell was first elected State Treasurer of Delaware in 1998, unseating Republican incumbent Janet C. Rzewnicki, and was re-elected in 2002 and 2006. As State Treasurer, Markell has led the development of several educational efforts in personal financial management, known collectively as "the Financial Literacy initiatives." He created the Delaware Money School which offers free classes to Delawareans throughout the year on topics such as saving for college and retirement planning. He also began the “Delaware Bank at School Program” which takes banks and financial education to schools. In a third program, he has partnered with the University of Delaware, Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship, as well as leading Delaware banks, to teach young children the basics of money and savings.
In 2001 then-Governor Ruth Ann Minner chose Markell to chair the Information Services Task Force, which developed and implemented recommendations to modify the state's management of information technology. In 2002 he led an effort to streamline and coordinate the procurement of goods and services while using state of the art purchasing techniques. He has also led the “Health Rewards” initiative which offers Delaware state government employees with comprehensive physical assessments, detailed statistics about how their health compares with their peers across the country and recommendations about how they can improve their health.
Markell had over $1.5 million in his campaign fund, raising about $600,000. $750,000 of his campaign war chest was a loan from him to his campaign organization, Friends of Jack Markell. Erik Schramm, former campaign coordinator for Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's re-election, ran Markell's re-election campaign team. Working along side Schramm was Dana Rohrbough, who was campaign coordinator for Matt Denn's insurance commissioner campaign in 2004. The two former heads of Markell's campaign represent the combination of the campaign teams from the two most competitive races in 2004, governor and insurance commissioner.
Contact information
Dover Office
Tatnall Building
William Penn Street, 2nd Fl.
Dover, DE 19901
Telephone: (302) 744-4101
Fax: (302) 739-2775
See also
External links
References
Portions of this article were adapted from Wikipedia.
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