Alonzo L. McDonald

The Honorable Alonzo L. McDonald has enjoyed a distinguished career in business, government, and academia. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Avenir Group, Inc., a private development bank and investor group that he founded in 1983. Mr. McDonald was the Founding Chairman of The Trinity Forum, and presently serves as a Trustee and Senior Fellow.

Mr. McDonald was President and Vice Chairman of the Bendix Corporation from 1981 to 1983. Earlier, he spent seventeen years with McKinsey and Company, Inc., serving as a partner in London and New York, manager of their offices in Zurich and Paris, and CEO of the firm worldwide. In 1977, he was named Deputy Special Trade Representative and Ambassador in charge of the U.S. Delegation to the GATT in Geneva. In 1979, he was named Assistant to the President of the United States and White House Staff Director of the Carter Administration.

Mr. McDonald joined the faculty of the Harvard Business School in 1981, and from 1983 until 1987 he served as a Senior Counselor to the Dean, developing and co-moderating their quarterly Senior Executive Seminar for chief executive officers.

He received an A.B. degree from Emory University and a M.B.A. with Distinction from Harvard University. He and his wife Suzanne have four grown children and reside in Birmingham, Michigan.