2024 CME STEM Leadership Honoree for Lifetime Achievement

Having served from 2017 to 2021 as the 39th U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the Honorable Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. ensured entrepreneurs and business had a propitious environment for job creation and technological progress. As co-chair of the Workforce Development Initiative, he focused on STEM education and apprenticeships, vital elements for economic growth. One of the 50 most influential people in global finance, he has restructured $400 billion of assets in a wide range of industries and has been chairman or lead director of over 100 companies operating in over 20 countries. He was the Chairman and CEO of WL Ross & Co. LLC from 2000 to 2017 following a 24-year career at the New York office of Rothschild & Co. Secretary Ross is a proud U.S. Army veteran and a distinguished graduate of Xavier High School, Yale University and Harvard Business School. He and his wife Hilary have two daughters, Jessica and Amanda.