Kurt Summers Jr. is the former

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

of the

City of Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Summers was appointed by Mayor

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...

on October 22, 2014, and took the oath of office on December 1, 2014. Summers was elected to his first full-term in office during Chicago's citywide election on February 24, 2015. He was preceded in office by Stephanie Neely.

Early life and education

Summers graduated from

Whitney Young Magnet High School Whitney M. Young Magnet High School is a public four-year magnet high school and middle school located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Opened on September 3, 1975, as a public magnet high school, joining Lane Tech in that ...

in Chicago. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with Management Distinction High Honors in Finance and International Business, with a minor in East Asian Studies, from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

. He also holds a Master of Business Administration from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

Career

Summers began his career at the consulting firm

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

. He was later appointed chief of staff to

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

board president

Toni Preckwinkle Toni Lynn Preckwinkle (née Reed; born March 17, 1947) is an American politician and the incumbent County Board president in Cook County, Illinois, United States. She was elected to her first term as president of the Cook County Board of Commis ...

and as the appointed trustee for the county's $9 billion pension fund. In that capacity, Summers led changes to provide performance management in every department, which Preckwinkle claimed in 2014 had saved the city $400 million annually. In his role as chief of staff for President Preckwinkle, Summers also steered the closure of a $487 million budget deficit while keeping the administration's promise to roll back the county sales tax, saving taxpayers more than $400 million a year. Additionally, Summers aided in reforming the county's procurement rules and helped pave the way for a more sustainable health and hospital system. In 2008, Summers was appointed as chief of staff for "

Chicago 2016 The Chicago bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics, Paralympics was an unsuccessful bid, first recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on September 14, 2007. The IOC shortlisted four of the seven applicant ...

", the city's bid for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. He was a senior vice president at

Grosvenor Capital Management GCM Grosvenor (Nasdaq: GCMG) is an American alternative asset management firm, with approximately $76 billion in assets under management and approximately 530 professionals as of 2023. GCM Grosvenor manages assets on behalf of a global client ba ...

, and a member of the Office of the chairman. In that role, he led the Emerging and Diverse Manager business, which invested over $2 billion with minority- and women-owned firms. When he was City Treasurer, Summers managed the city's $7 billion dollar investment portfolio and is responsible for maintaining records and accounts of the city's finances while ensuring transparency and accountability for all transactions. Summers sat on five local pension boards with nearly $25 billion under management. Summers's first act in office was the proposal of a 90-day-plan called "Invest in Our Chicago", which aimed to increase investment in the city. Summers also launched a listening tour, visiting Chicago's 77 communities in 77 days.

Personal life

Summers currently resides in Hyde Park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Kurt City treasurers of Chicago Harvard Business School alumni Washington University in St. Louis alumni Living people Illinois Democrats Year of birth missing (living people)