Richard Harold Fink (born May 31, 1951) is an American businessman and academic. He is the former executive vice president of

Koch Industries Koch, Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas, and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiarie ...

, the second largest privately held company in the U.S.

Education and academic career

Fink received a B.A. in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, an M.A. in economics 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 ...

, and a Ph.D. in economics from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Between 1980 and 1986, Fink was on the economics faculty at

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

, where he was the founder and director of the Center for Market Processes, which later became the

Mercatus Center The Mercatus Center is an American libertarian, free-market-oriented non-profit think tank. The Mercatus Center is located at the George Mason University campus, but it is privately funded and its employees are independent of the university. It ...

. Under his leadership, during the 1980s, George Mason was a center of

Austrian Economics The Austrian school is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivations and actions of individuals along with thei ...

Relationship with Charles Koch

In the late '70s, Richard Fink met Charles Koch to discuss founding a research center devoted to teaching

Austrian economics The Austrian school is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivations and actions of individuals along with thei ...

thought at Rutgers. Fink met with Koch in Wichita and planned what became the

in 1999.

Koch Industries

Fink served as an executive vice president of Koch Industries, Inc. He was also chairman and CEO of Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC, which provides legal and government and public affairs services to Koch Industries and its affiliate. He was on the board of directors of Koch Industries Inc.,

Georgia-Pacific Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of Tissue paper, tissue, Pulp (paper), pulp, paper, toilet and paper towe ...

and Flint Hills Resources, LLC.

Koch Family Foundations

Fink was a member of the boards of directors and President of the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation. He was also on the board of the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation.

Board memberships

Fink served on the board of trustees of the

Democratic Leadership Council The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) was a non-profit 501(c)(4) corporation that was active from 1985 to 2011. Founded and directed by Al From, it argued that the United States Democratic Party should shift away from the leftward turn it had ...

. Fink co-founded

Citizens for a Sound Economy Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) (1984–2004) was a conservative political group operating in the United States. It was established in 1984 by Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries. Ron Paul was appointed as the first chairman of the org ...

, where he served as president, and co-founded the Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation, which is now the

Americans for Prosperity Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a Libertarian conservatism, libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States affiliated with brothers Charles Koch and the late David Koch. As the Koch family's primary pol ...

Foundation. He also sat on the board of the

Institute for Humane Studies The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a non-profit organization that promotes the teaching and research of classical liberalism in higher education in the United States. IHS offers funding opportunities, programs, and events for faculty and g ...

, and the

at George Mason University. He previously served on the Consumer Advisory Council of the

Federal Reserve Board The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, commonly known as the Federal Reserve Board, is the main governing body of the Federal Reserve System. It is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the mo ...

and the Commission on Privatization. Fink was a member of the boards of directors of the

Charles Koch Foundation The Koch family foundations are a group of charitable foundations in the United States associated with the family of Fred C. Koch. The most prominent of these are the Charles Koch Foundation and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, created ...

, the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation, the

, the Market-Based Management Institute, and Americans for Prosperity Foundation.

References

External links

Fink's bio
at the

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fink, Richard H. 1951 births Living people Rutgers University alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni New York University alumni George Mason University faculty 20th-century American businesspeople Academics from New Jersey Businesspeople from New Jersey Koch Industries 21st-century American businesspeople Mercatus Center New Jersey Democrats