Gary Edward MacDougal (born July 3, 1936) is an American businessman, writer, foundation director, former arts executive, and political leader, who works with community leaders, non-profits, governors,Montgomery, AL Advertiser, Feb 28, 2004. and legislatures, to assist the economically disadvantaged move from dependency to self-sufficiency.Philanthropy Magazine, July/August 2000. He is a former partner of McKinsey & Company, an international management consulting firm.Forbes Magazine, December 28, 1987. For 18 years Mr. MacDougal was Chairman and Chief Executive of Mark Controls Corporation, a leading manufacturer and installer of building control systems and manufacturer of flow control equipment for the petroleum, chemical and power industries.Fortune Magazine, June 16, 1980. Mark Controls grew internally and through acquisitions to become ranked #687 in the Fortune 1000,Fortune Magazine, June 16, 1980. and listed on the New York Stock Exchange with 5,000 employees and factories around the world.Annual Report, Mark Controls Corporation, 1980. He is also a founder of the $450 million America for Bulgaria Foundation (Chicago, Illinois, and Sofia, Bulgaria) which has a special focus on the economically disadvantaged and is thought to be the largest foundation in Eastern Europe. He is also an Advisory Director of Saratoga Partners, LLC.
Early life Gary MacDougal was born in Chicago Illinois, attended grade school and his first year of high school in Westfield, New Jersey, completing high school in Los Angeles, California, and graduating with a BS in Engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1958. He served in the Navy as the Engineering Officer on two destroyers in the Atlantic fleet for three years before attending Harvard Business School, from which he graduated with distinction in 1963.
Career MacDougal joined McKinsey & Company in 1963 and was elected a partner in 1968.Forbes Magazine, December 28, 1987. While at McKinsey he had responsibility, together with another partner, for the firm's merger/acquisition and finance practice. In 1969 he left McKinsey to become CEO of Clayton Mark and CompanyWall Street Journal, September 25, 1969. (name later changed to Mark Controls Corporation). Prior to MacDougal's joining the company it lost money in six of the ten preceding years (1960–1969). During MacDougal's tenure as CEO, investors achieved more than a seventeenfold increase, with the stock rising from $10 per share in 1959 to more than $170 per share in October 1987 (adjusted for splits). Investors experienced growth of over 17% per year compounded (including dividends) over the eighteen-year period. In 1987, he turned over CEO responsibilities to a long-time partner and became honorary chairman of the Board of Mark Controls. MacDougal was a director of United Parcel Service for 34 years where he was chairman of the finance committee, as well as the nominating and governance committees.United Parcel Service annual reports (1973–2007). While chairman of the UPS finance committee he helped lead the UPS initial public stock offering (IPO), then the largest in the history of wall street. He also served on the board of the following New York Stock Exchange listed corporations: Union Camp Corporation (forest products),Union Camp Annual Report - 1997. AM International (printing equipment),AM International Annual Report - 1982. CBI Industries (industrial construction and commercial gases),CBI Industries Annual Report - 1992. Sargent Welch Scientific (laboratory equipment),Sargent Welch Corporation Annual Report. Maremont Corporation (automotive equipment)Maremont Corporation Annual Report (1982). and The France Fund (mutual Fund).
Foundations and the arts MacDougal served as a trustee and chairman of the Russell Sage Foundation (New York), a major funder of social science research, with a primary focus on problems of poverty.Russell Sage Foundation Annual Report (1986-1987). He was for many years a trustee of the Annie E. Casey Foundation with a mission to help move disadvantaged children and families from dependency to self-sufficiency. He is also a former trustee of the W.T. Grant Foundation, working in the area of child development and the problems of disadvantaged children.
The New York City Ballet selected MacDougal as General Director in 1990,International Herald Tribune, People, May 20, 1993. reporting, along with the artistic director, to the NYCB Board of Directors. In addition to general management, his activities included leading a long range planning process and creating a marketing function and establishing and implementing a code of conduct. He also represented the New York City Ballet on the Lincoln Center Board of Directors.
Politics and government Mr. MacDougal chaired the Illinois Governor's Task Force for Human Services ReformChicago Tribune (front page), Wednesday March 23, 1994. from 1993 to 1997, which developed and implemented a major reorganization of the Illinois human services systems to better integrate services, connect with communities and measure outcomes with the overreaching goal of helping people move from dependency to self sufficiency. An integrated Illinois Department of Human Services was created from the six separate uncoordinated departments. Upon signing the bill, Governor Edgar described it as the "biggest reorganization of state government since 1900". Illinois then led the nation by reducing welfare roles 95% in the subsequent 10 years (from August 1996 to September 2016)Department of Health and Human Services - Administration of Children and Families with most going to work. This work has been described in columns by Pulitzer Prize winners David BroderWashington Post, June 28, 2000. and Clarence Page.Chicago Tribune, October 22, 1997.
In early 1988, Mr. MacDougal joined the Bush Presidential Campaign. MacDougal was subsequently was appointed by then Vice President George H. W. Bush as assistant campaign manager and senior advisor,Popkin, Samuel, “How to Win – and Hold – the White House.” where he had responsibility in the areas of management, policy and finance. In June 1988 when the campaign was down 17 points to Michael Dukakis, Vice President Bush asked Mr. MacDougal to undertake a management review of the campaign that led to a report and reorganization which contributed to President Bush's victory as described in The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III (Anchor Books, 2021) pp. 295–296.
MacDougal was an exploratory candidate for the US Senate from Illinois in 1989, withdrawing at the request of President Bush,Chicago Sun Times, July 11, 1989. and was also a US Senate candidate in 1992 where, according to a bookMayer and Abramson, “Strange Justice” Penguin 1994. by NY Times journalists Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson, MacDougal's candidacy was sacrificed by the White House in return for a crucial vote by his opponent, Illinois Senator Alan Dixon (D-IL), to approve Clarence Thomas for the US Supreme Court.
Mr. MacDougal was appointed by President George H.W. Bush as a public delegate of the United States to the United Nations for the 44th General Assembly sessionWhite House Press Release - September 20, 1989. where, among other responsibilities, he served as liaison to the East Bloc countries. The U.S. Senate confirmed him on November 19, 1989.Congressional Record - November 19, 1989. President Bush subsequently appointed MacDougal to the US Commission on Improving the Effectiveness of the United Nations.Final Report of the United States Commission on Improving the Effectiveness of the United Nations, September 1993.White House Press Release, March 19, 1992. He also served on the US secretary of labor's Commission on Workforce Quality and Labor Market Efficiency.“Workforce Quality” Report of the Secretary of Labor, January 1989.Wall Street Journal, Sept 1st, 1989.
In November 1991, after the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain came down, Mr. MacDougal was chosen by President George H.W. Bush to be chairman of the $55 million Bulgarian American Enterprise Fund (BAEF), established to invest in and encourage entrepreneurship and free markets in Bulgaria.Wall Street Journal, June 29, 2015 "Putin Targets Pro-Western Bulgaria" Mr. MacDougal had previously been the first "free market" speaker at the Karl Marx University (now the University of National and World Economy) in Sofia resulting from his work at the United Nations. The BAEF created thousands of jobs for Bulgarians, opened up new markets, and grew at a rate in excess of 17% per year to a value of more than $450 million.
Mr. MacDougal is currently founder and chairman emeritus of the America for Bulgaria Foundation (www.us4bg.org), which assumed the BAEF assets. The ABF, based in Chicago and Sofia, has a mission of strengthening U.S. Bulgaria relations and continuing to help Bulgaria move to a free market economy through grants strengthening Roma education; anti-corruption efforts and employment initiatives, among other activities.
MacDougal served as chairman of the Illinois Republican Party during the 2002 gubernatorial campaign where he rebuilt party finances and earned a reputation for attacking “bipartisan sleaze” in Illinois.Chicago Sun Times, Mark Brown Column, July 29, 2002.Chicago Sun Times - Thomas Roeser Column, October 5, 2002.
Writing and speaking MacDougal is the author of: Make A Difference: A Spectacular Breakthrough in the Fight Against Poverty (St. Martin's Press: 2000, paperback 2005). He has published numerous articles on poverty and other topics in the Wall Street Journal,Chicago's Violence and Its Leadership Deficit, Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2018.A Republican War on Poverty, Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2014.The Missing Half of the Welfare Debate, Wall Street Journal, September 6, 1995.UPS: Let the Worker’s Decide, Wall Street Journal, August 12, 1997.Junking the Junk Mail Office, Wall Street Journal, October 5, 2011.Putin Targets Pro-Western Bulgaria, Wall Street Journal, June 28, 2015.The "Labor Secretary' Needs a Promotion, Wall Street Journal, December 30, 2016Phase Out, Don't Bail Out, the Post Office, Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2020. The New York Times,The Wrong Way to Help the Poor, New York Times, October 10, 2012Let’s Not Risk A Welfare Fix, New York Times, October 29, 2000. The Washington Post,Jeremiah Wright’s Wider Toll, Washington Post, May 3, 2008. The Chicago Tribune,A Better Way for Children In Need, Chicago Tribune, April 26, 1993. The Chicago Sun TimesChicago Sun Times - Illinois Offers Blueprint of How Welfare Should Work, August 24, 2004. and The Harvard Business Review,Investing in a Dividend Boost, Harvard Business Review, July–August, 1967.Master plan for Merger Negotiations, Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb, 1970. among others. He has spoken on moving people from dependency to self-sufficiency and other topics at leading think tanks and universities including; UCLA, Harvard's Kennedy School, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Georgetown University,See “Gary MacDougal” on www.youtube.com The Brookings Institution, The Heritage Foundation, and The American Enterprise Institute.
Awards and honors