2017 Van Fleet Award Honoree & Special Guest
The Honorable George W. Bush
43rd President of the United States
Founder, George W. Bush Presidential Center
George W. Bush served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009.
President Bush was born on July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut, to Barbara and George H.W. Bush – later the 41st President of the United States. In 1948, the family moved to Texas, where George W. Bush grew up in Midland and Houston. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University in 1968 and a master’s degree in business administration from the Harvard Business School in 1975. He served as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard from 1968 to 1974. Afterward, he settled in Midland, where he started an energy business and married Laura Welch on November 5, 1977. After working on his father’s successful 1988 Presidential campaign, George W. Bush joined a group of partners that purchased the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in 1989.
On November 8, 1994, George W. Bush was elected the 46th Governor of Texas. In 1998, he became the first governor in Texas history to be elected to consecutive four-year terms.
After the Presidency, George and Laura Bush founded the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas. The Center is home to the Bush Presidential Museum and Library, which houses George W. Bush’s presidential papers. The Center also is home to the George W. Bush Institute, a public policy organization that focuses on economic growth, education reform, global health, and human freedom. The Institute supports the rights of women with its Women’s Initiative and honors those who have served in the United States armed forces through its Military Service Initiative.
President Bush is the author of a bestselling memoir, Decision Points (2010), as well as a book about his father, President George H.W. Bush, entitled 41: A Portrait of My Father (2014). On February 28, 2017, President Bush released his latest book, Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors, a vibrant collection of oil paintings and stories by President Bush honoring the sacrifice and courage of America’s military veterans. He and Laura have twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, a son-in-law, Henry Hager, and two granddaughters, Mila and Poppy Louise Hager. The Bush family also includes a dog, Freddy, and two cats, Bob and Bernadette.
2017 Van Fleet Award Honoree
Chey Tae-won
Chairman and CEO, SK Holdings
Chairman, Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies
Mr. Chey Tae-won serves as the Chairman and CEO of SK Holdings. He oversees and orchestrates 95 companies (as of March 1, 2017) that comprise the SK Group.
Mr. Chey began his career at SK Group in 1991 and was appointed Chairman of the Board and CEO in 1998. With his innovative and dynamic leadership, the Group has steadily expanded over the years. SK Group consists of 95 companies across many strategic industries in Korea, including energy, chemicals, telecommunications, semiconductors, and trading/services.
Mr. Chey has been a key contributor to numerous business and civic organizations, including the World Economic Forum and the Boao Forum for Asia. Furthermore, as a strong advocate of the comprehensive UN goal of responsible corporate citizenship, he served on the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Board. He has also been an important member of the Brookings Institution’s IAC (International Advisory Council) and the Advisory Board for the RAND Corporation’s CAPP (Center for Asia Pacific Policy).
In recent years, Mr. Chey has been deeply committed to strengthening the presence of Korea and its competitiveness in the global economy. In November 2010, he was appointed a Convener of the Working Group on Renewable Energy at the Seoul G20 Business Summit. In February 2016, he was named President of the Korea Handball Federation.
Mr. Chey has been serving as the Board Chairman of Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies (KFAS) since 1998. KFAS has been a major locomotive for fostering human resources in Korea through its generous scholarship programs including the Overseas PhD Scholarship.
In February 2015, Mr. Chey authored a book titled Social Enterprises: Building a Better World. The acclaimed book shares his long belief in—and passion for—socially responsible business management of commercial enterprises.
Mr. Chey holds a BA in Physics from Korea University and completed the PhD program in Economics at the University of Chicago.
