Jeffrey Martin Ettinger (born October 18, 1958) is an American

corporate executive Corporate titles or business titles are given to corporate officers to show what duties and responsibilities they have in the organization. Such titles are used by publicly and privately held for-profit corporations, cooperatives, non-profit org ...

, businessman, philanthropist, politician, and attorney who served as the interim President of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

from 2023 to 2024. He was previously

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Hormel Foods Hormel Foods Corporation, doing business as Hormel Foods or simply Hormel, is an American multinational food processing company founded in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota, by George A. Hormel as George A. Hormel & Company. The company originally fo ...

. As Hormel's CEO from 2005 until 2016, he led the company through a period of major growth in market value. Ettinger now runs the corporate Hormel Foundation, which gives millions of dollars to charitable causes in

Austin, Minnesota Austin is a city in and the county seat of Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River and has ...

, and serves on the boards of several other companies.

Early life and education

Ettinger was born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree and

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

Career

Ettinger served as a law clerk to Judge

Arthur Alarcón Arthur Lawrence Alarcón (August 14, 1925 – January 28, 2015) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Education and career Born in Los Angeles, California, Alarcón was a Staff Sergeant i ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...

. He has worked at

Hormel Hormel Foods Corporation, doing business as Hormel Foods or simply Hormel, is an American multinational corporation, multinational food processing company founded in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota, Austin, Minnesota, by George A. Hormel as George A ...

since 1989, fulfilling roles such as senior corporate attorney (1989–1993), treasurer (1998–1999), and president of

Jennie-O Jennie-O Turkey Store is a brand name of turkey products. It is a subsidiary of the Hormel Foods Corporation in Willmar, Minnesota. History The company was founded by Earl B. Olson in 1940, when he began raising turkeys. In 1949, he boug ...

(1999–2003). He later worked as vice president and general counsel of Comar Marketing. He was a member of the

American Meat Institute The American Meat Institute (AMI) was the oldest and largest trade association representing the U.S. meat and poultry industry. In 2015, it was merged into the North American Meat Institute (NAMI). Overview Founded in 1906 in Chicago as the Ame ...

board of directors, the

Grocery Manufacturers Association The Consumer Brands Association (CBA), formerly the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), is a United States-wide trade association for manufacturers of consumer packaged goods (CPG). The CBA represents companies that manufacture food, beve ...

board of directors, and the Minnesota Business Partnership board of directors. He became Hormel's president, CEO, and chairman of the board in 2005 and retired as CEO on October 30, 2016. He continued to serve as chairman of the board until retiring on November 20, 2017. Ettinger was the Democratic nominee for the 2022 Minnesota's 1st congressional district special election and for the regular election in November 2022. Ettinger lost both elections to

Brad Finstad Bradley Howard Finstad (born May 30, 1976) is an American politician, farmer, and agricultural consultant serving as the U.S. representative for since 2022. Finstad represents a large section of southern Minnesota situated along the border with ...

. On May 8, 2023, Ettinger was selected as Interim President for the

system.

Personal life

Ettinger and his wife, LeeAnn, have four children. They live in

. Ettinger is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ettinger, Jeffrey 1958 births 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American businesspeople American chief executives of food industry companies Businesspeople from Minnesota Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Catholics from Minnesota Hormel Foods people Living people Minnesota Democrats Minnesota lawyers People from Austin, Minnesota Businesspeople from Pasadena, California Philanthropists from Minnesota UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni UCLA School of Law alumni