Sanford I. Weill, NAF Founder and Chairman

Sanford I. Weill is Chairman Emeritus of Citigroup Inc., the diversified global financial services company formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group. Mr. Weill retired as CEO of Citigroup on October 1, 2003 and served as Chairman until April 2006.

Long a proponent of education, Mr. Weill instituted a joint program with the New York City Board of Education in 1980 that created the first Academy of Finance. He envisioned the Academy as a vehicle to support workforce development while providing opportunities for inner-city youth. That original vision has evolved into one of the premier reform models for public education in the country. He serves as Chairman of the National Academy Foundation, which oversees more than 500 Academies that operate in 41 states and the District of Columbia, and is the principal sponsor of New York City's High School of Economics and Finance. The National Academy Foundation and the Gates Foundation have recently started an exciting new partnership.

Mr. Weill, who had been Chairman and CEO of Travelers, became Chairman of its predecessor, Commercial Credit Company, in 1986, successfully leading the company through a public stock offering by its then-parent, Control Data Corporation. Prior to 1986, Mr. Weill had been President of American Express Company and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of its Fireman's Fund Insurance Company subsidiary.

His affiliation with American Express began in 1981 when the company acquired Shearson Loeb Rhoades. Shearson's origins date back to 1960 when Mr. Weill and three partners co-founded its predecessor, Carter, Berlind, Potoma & Weill. He served as the firm's Chairman from 1965 to 1984, a period in which it completed over 15 acquisitions to become the country's second largest securities brokerage firm. In 1993, when Travelers Group acquired Shearson Lehman Brothers' retail brokerage and asset management businesses, he was reunited with the firm he founded.
 
Mr. Weill became a Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2001.  Mr. Weill, has been Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Hall since 1991, and previously served as Co-Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Campaign that raised $60 million for the Hall's restoration. Mr. Weill is Chairman of the Board of Overseers for The Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College and Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, having joined the board in 1982 and becoming chair in 1996. A Trustee Emeritus of the university, he serves on the Advisory Council of its Johnson Graduate School of Management. In addition, he is a Trustee of New York Presbyterian Hospital and an Overseer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He is a member of The Business Council. Mr. Weill is also the Honorary Chairman of the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy, a nonprofit forum of CEOs and Chairpersons.
 
Mr. Weill, who was born on March 16, 1933, is a graduate of Cornell University. He and his wife, Joan, have been married for 50 years. They have two adult children and four grandchildren.