Jack Gerard Chosen To Head American Chemistry Council
The American Chemistry Council represents the leading companies in the business of chemistry, a $504 billion enterprise that supplies essential chemical products to every sector of the economy.
Gerard will succeed interim President and CEO Tom Reilly who took over leadership of ACC last summer. Mike Campbell, Chairman of ACC's Board of Directors and President and CEO of Arch Chemicals, Inc., led the search for a new leader, and ACC's Executive Committee and Board of Directors endorsed the selection today.
Campbell praised Gerard's strong Washington background. "Jack's experience on Capitol Hill, coupled with his high energy and business sense, will be critical to achieving our advocacy goals. We have a lot of issues on our plate: the security of our industry, runaway energy prices, attacks on many of our products, to name a few. Jack is uniquely qualified to spearhead ACC's efforts to combine top notch advocacy, a powerful communications campaign and responsible industry performance and research."
ACC's Reilly said that Gerard's background in issue advocacy and association leadership makes him an ideal choice for the chemistry trade association. "Jack has been a creative and tireless advocate for America's mining companies and has demonstrated a solid grasp of the type of issues that are critical to America's chemical makers. Jack will be able to hit the ground running and quickly lead ACC to new heights in effective advocacy for our members."
"This is a tremendous opportunity to serve a great American enterprise," Gerard said. "I'm honored and grateful to receive the confidence of ACC's leadership. I look forward to building on the contributions of Tom Reilly and his staff and to spreading the message that chemistry truly is essential to our nation's way of life."
At NMA Gerard focused the organization's human and financial resources on advocating key priorities of its membership. He accomplished a major reorganization, expanded membership, significantly increased member political activity and changed the dues structure. Prior to joining NMA Gerard was a founding partner, chairman and chief executive officer of McClure, Gerard & Neuenschwander, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based government relations consulting firm. He also spent nearly a decade working in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.
Gerard serves on a number of boards including the National Capital Area Council – Boy Scouts of America Executive Board and the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management's Council on American Politics, and he chairs the National Energy Foundation's Board of Directors. He is a graduate of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Juris Doctorate degree. He lives with his wife, Claudette, and their six children in Virginia.