DWIGHT L. BUSH (1957 –)

POSTED ONJUNE 2, 2015BY CONTRIBUTED BY: MICHAEL SLAUGHTER

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Ambassador Dwight Bush had a 35 year career in finance and corporate management before he became a U.S. diplomat. He has served as an executive within numerous financial institutions and sat on the board of directors for several corporate, educational, and non-profit organizations. As of this writing, Bush is the United States Ambassador to Morocco.

Born on February 4, 1957 in East St. Louis, Illinois, Dwight Bush was the fourth of five children in his family. After high school he attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where he completed a B.A. degree in Government in 1979.  Bush then joined Chase Manhattan Bank as a trainee in the management development program. At Chase, he gained experience in international corporate banking, working on assignments in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. In New York City and Washington, D.C., Bush worked in Chase’s corporate and project finance and by 1993 he had risen to managing director within Chase’s Project Finance Group.

After 15 years at Chase, Bush sought out new challenges. In 1994, he joined the Sallie Mae Corporation, which offers student loans, serving as vice president of corporate development and chief credit officer. From 1997 to 2002, Bush served as vice president and chief financial officer at Sato Travel Holdings in Arlington, Virginia. Between 2002 and 2006, Bush worked for Stuart Mill Capital in Falls Church, Virginia as a principal. From 2004 to 2005, he served as vice chairman of Enhanced Capital Partners, LLC in New York City.

In 2004, Bush helped start Urban Trust Bank and Urban Trust Holdings in Washington, D.C., where he went on to serve as president and chief executive officer. He also held the position of president of Urban Trust Bank Education Finance.

Bush has served on the board of directors of several corporate and not-for-profit organizations. In 2004, he was appointed to the board of EntreMed Incorporated in Rockville, Maryland and in 2010 he was nominated as vice chairman. He also served on the corporate boards of Inner City Broadcasting Corporation and Urban Cableworks in New York City, Urban Trust Bank Holdings, and JER Investors Trust Incorporated in McLean, Virginia.

Bush’s philanthropic efforts has also placed him on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations, he has sat on the board of Cornell University, the Georgetown Day School, the National Symphony Orchestra and GAVI Alliance, which is an organization that provides immunizations to people living in developing countries.

As a lifelong Democrat, Bush has made substantial donations to the campaigns of Democratic office seekers. In President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, Bush was a leading campaign contributor and fundraiser.

On August 1, 2013, President Obama nominated Dwight Bush for the post of United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco and on March 13, 2014, the United States Senate confirmed Bush’s appointment. Bush presented his credentials to King Mohammed VI in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, on April 4, 2014.

Bush is married to News Corp attorney Antoinette Cook Bush. They have two children.

Subjects:

African American History, People

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