John Thornton Retiring as President and Co-COO of Goldman Sachs
Starting from September, 2003, Mr. Thornton will serve as professor and Director for the newly established program for Global Leadership at the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing. This is a joint appointment of both the School of Economics and Management and the School of Public Policy and Management. He will be the first retired Western business leader to dedicate full time to teach a regular graduate course at Tsinghua University since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Additionally, Mr. Thornton will be serving as a special advisor on China to Richard C. Levin, President of Yale University. He will also be devoting more time to the Brookings Institution where he is Chairman of the Executive Committee.
Henry M. Paulson, Jr. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs said of Mr. Thornton's departure, "John will be greatly missed. He exemplifies the best of our firm: a tireless devotion to client service, to excellence, and to the development of our people. From the beginning of his career, John recognized the importance of the international business and has been a driving force behind our development into a global firm. We are grateful for his dedication and service over the past 22 years, and we are pleased that he will continue to be available to us as an advisor."
Mr. Thornton joined Goldman Sachs in 1980 in the Mergers Department. He became a partner in 1988 and co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs International in 1995. From 1996 to 1998, he was chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia. He was named president and co-chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs in 1999.
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Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest and largest investment banking firms. The firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.
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Note for Editors
Tsinghua University, located in Beijing (and another sister institution with the same name and reputation, located in Taiwan), is China's foremost institution of higher learning. For a century, it has been the most important training ground for China's top scientists, engineers, business and government leaders. The University's 4500-strong faculty and 18,000 students are considered China's finest.
Tsinghua University is especially renowned for its science and engineering departments, long known as the "MIT of China". Its faculty and alumni account for over one-quarter of the members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering Sciences, the nation's most prestigious academies. There are four Nobel laureates in physics and chemistry among Tsinghua faculty and graduates.
Tsinghua alumni are highly influential in China's education, arts and literature, science and engineering, state industry, and government sectors. The University has also trained a lion's share of China's past and current political leaders. Former Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, President Hu Jintao, National People's Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo, Vice Premier Huang Ju and Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan are Tsinghua graduates. Four out of the Party's 9-member Politburo Standing Committee, the most powerful political group in China, are Tsinghua graduates. And there are a large number of Tsinghua alumni serving as ministers, governors and mayors across China.
The School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University China's first Western-style business school was founded in the early 1980s as the country's market-oriented economic reforms dramatically increased demand for professional managers. The School is now ranked as China's best business school. Former Prime Minister Zhu Rongji was the founder and served as dean until 2001. There are now 1200 MBA students, 500 undergraduates, and 200 graduate students enrolled in the master's and PhD programs. There are a number of pioneering international exchange programs at the School, including the joint Tsinghua-Harvard executive program. The School established an international advisory board, with Hank Paulson serving as its first chairman, and John Thornton as a member.
The School of Public Policy and Management was established in 1996, with the goal to train China's next generation of public sector leaders. There are 300 MPA (Master of Public Administration) students.
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, based in Washington, DC, is an independent, nonpartisan organization devoted to research, analysis, education, and publication focused on public policy issues in the areas of economics, foreign policy, and governance. The goal of Brookings activities is to improve the performance of American institutions and the quality of public policy by using social science to analyze emerging issues and to offer practical approaches to those issues in language aimed at the general public. In its conferences, publications, and other activities, Brookings serves as a bridge between scholarship and policymaking, bringing new knowledge to the attention of decision makers and affording scholars greater insight into public policy issues. The Institution's activities are carried out through three research programs (Economic Studies, Foreign Policy Studies, and Governance Studies), as well as through the Center for Public Policy Education and the Brookings Institution Press, which publishes about fifty books a year.