Gary Edson is a former American government official, entrepreneur, and former president of

Conservation International Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia. CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and communities. The or ...

. He served previously as chief executive officer of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that concluded operations in late 2012. From 2001 to 2004, Edson served in the administration of George W. Bush as Deputy National Security Advisor and deputy assistant to the president for international economic affairs; he was also Deputy National Economic Advisor. In addition, he was the chief U.S. negotiator or “sherpa” for all presidential summits, including the G8,

APEC The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pac ...

, US-EU, and the Summits of the Americas. Edson co-led the development of the $45 billion

President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief The United States President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is a United States governmental initiative to address the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and help save the lives of those suffering from the disease. Launched by U.S. President Geo ...

, the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health initiative. He is also credited with establishing the

Millennium Challenge Corporation The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency established by the U.S. Congress in 2004. It is an independent agency separate from the State Department and USAID. It provides grants to countries that ...

(MCC) to fight global poverty. The MCC uses increased aid to reward countries demonstrating a commitment to

good governance Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for th ...

. Edson left government in 2005 because of a serious illness, from which he has since recovered. He was a managing director at Stonebridge International, and for a time sat on the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. One observer described Edson as “brainy” and “impatient… a spicy jalapeno pepper in the midst of the smooth cream cheese” of the White House. Former secretary of state James A. Baker has called him “indispensable,” noting, "I've never known anybody from whom the taxpayers get a better deal." In her 2011 memoir, former secretary of state

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th ...

praises Edson as being "one of the best 'policy engineers' I'd ever known, one of those rare individuals who can take an idea from inception to implementation."

Early career

Earlier in his career, Edson served as chief of staff and general counsel to U.S. Trade Representative

Carla A. Hills Carla Anderson Hills (born January 3, 1934) is an American lawyer and a public figure. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 5th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Gerald Ford from 1 ...

from 1989 to 1992, and special assistant to Deputy Secretary of State

Kenneth W. Dam Kenneth Willard Dam (August 10, 1932 – May 31, 2022) was an American politician and academic who served as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury (the second highest official in the United States Department of the Treasury) from 2001 to 2004, where ...

from 1982 to 1985. He headed a

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a typ ...

firm, ECG, Inc., which acquired PAR Systems, Inc, a manufacturer of robotics systems, of which Edson was chairman of the board.

Education

Edson received a B.A. with honors in anthropology from Stanford University in 1977, and J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from The

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

in 1982. He was a Henry Luce Scholar in Japan, 1977–1978.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edson, Gary Year of birth missing (living people) United States presidential advisors George W. Bush administration personnel Living people Stanford University alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni