Raymond G. Chambers (born August 7, 1942) is a philanthropist and humanitarian who is the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

Ambassador for Global Strategy. Chambers' philanthropic efforts are diverse, with major focus areas in global health, mentoring, and revitalizing his home city of

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

Early life and education

Born and raised in the West Ward of Newark, Chambers attended West Side High School. Chambers studied at Rutgers University–Newark, where he was a member of

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, maki ...

fraternity, and earned an MBA degree from Seton Hall University in 1968.Fallon, Scott
"Sports Arena Is Part of Grand Plan for Newark, N.J."
, '' The Record (Bergen County)'', June 11, 2001. Accessed August 26, 2016. "Born in 1942 into a blue-collar family, Chambers attended public schools before studying at Rutgers-Newark. He received an MBA from Seton Hall in 1968 and went to work for a series of Wall Street firms."

Career

Private equity

Chambers is the former chairman of Wesray Capital Corporation, a

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

holding company that he co-founded with William E. Simon, the former

United States Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

. The "WES" in the firm's name represented Simon's initials and "RAY" was for Chamber's first name. Their first big coup was the

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is the acquisition of a company using a significant proportion of borrowed money (Leverage (finance), leverage) to fund the acquisition with the remainder of the purchase price funded with private equity. The assets of t ...

of Gibson Greetings from RCA in 1981 for $80 million, with each partner contributing $330,000 and the balance paid for with loans. After taking Gibson public in 1984, each partner walked away with a profit exceeding $70 million. After Simon ended his active involvement in the firm's management, Chambers was responsible for deals including the 1985 purchase of Avis Rent a Car System, which was sold 14 months later to an employee stock ownership plan for $1.75 billion along with the sale of other Avis assets for $674 million, netting a profit of $740 million on a $10 million capital outlay. Chambers and Wesray were early investors in buyout firm Vestar Capital Partners, investing in the first Vestar fund in 1988.

Involvement in Newark

Chambers has played an active role in revitalizing Newark, working with organizations and schools throughout the city, including in the West Ward where he grew up. He is a longtime supporter of the Boys & Girls Club of Newark, which he had belonged to as a child in the 1950s. He has funded college educations for hundreds of Newark public school students served by the Club. Chambers was the founding chairman of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, helping obtain contributions from local corporations and contributing his own money, with the goal of creating a cultural center for Newark modeled after

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

and Washington, D.C.'s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. As a partner in YankeeNets, Chambers played a critical role in bringing the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

to what is now the

Prudential Center Prudential Center is a multipurpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), the New York Sirens of the Pro ...

, with YankeeNets contributing $105 million to construct the publicly owned facility. Chambers' name was engraved on the Stanley Cup as president of 2003 New Jersey Devils Chambers was an early supporter of U.S. senator

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Democ ...

, helping to convince him that he had a future in politics.

Global Health and United Nations

In February 2008, the Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed Chambers as his first Special Envoy for Malaria. During his tenure, visibility, awareness, and funding for malaria each increased exponentially, contributing to the distribution of more than 1 billion life-saving mosquito nets to sub-Saharan Africa and averting more than 6.2 million malaria-related deaths, most of which were children under five years of age. In February 2013, the Secretary-General expanded Chambers’ mandate as his first Special Envoy for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the internationally agreed set of humanitarian targets. Chambers worked with key funding partners—including governments, financial institutions and the private sector—to secure adequate resources to provide the essential supplies, delivery mechanisms, systems support and measurement tools needed to attain the health MDGs. In addition to his Special Envoy role, Chambers served as one of the UN Secretary-General's MDG Advocates. With the adoption of the

Sustainable Development Goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...

, Chambers was appointed by the Secretary-General as his Special Envoy for Health in Agenda 2030. In this role he was tasked with catalyzing efforts and commitments required for the successful implementation of the health-related goals in Agenda 2030—which included ending the epidemics of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

(TB), and malaria. In 2018, Chambers transitioned his focus to supporting the World Health Organization (WHO), the specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health. The WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appointed Chambers as the WHO Ambassador for Global Strategy to advise him in mobilizing the international community to advance the global health agenda. Regarding Chambers’ appointment, Dr. Tedros said: “Ray Chambers is a giant of public health who understands as well as anyone the critical need to prioritize the health and wellbeing of all people on the planet.”

Other associations

Chambers was a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. He is the Founding Chairman of the Points of Light Foundation and co-founded America's Promise Alliance with

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

. Chambers is also the co-founder of the MENTOR / National Mentoring Partnership and served as Chairman of the Millennium Promise Alliance. With Peter Chernin, he co-founded Malaria No More and served as its co-chairman until being named UN Special Envoy for Malaria.

Awards and recognition

In 1993, Chambers received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 2002, Chambers received the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership. In December 2008, President Bush recognized Chambers with the Presidential Citizens Medal for his work helping children worldwide through the fight against malaria. In April 2011, Chambers was named by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world."The 2011 TIME 100"
''

''. Accessed August 26, 2016. Chambers was a 2014 New Jersey Hall of Fame inductee. Chambers has been awarded honorary degrees from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

, and

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Ray 1942 births Living people American officials of the United Nations Businesspeople from Newark, New Jersey New Jersey Devils executives Private equity and venture capital investors Rutgers University alumni Seton Hall University alumni Special Envoys of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Stanley Cup champions West Side High School (New Jersey) alumni