Chuck Hagel, Nebraska’s senior U.S. Senator, is serving his second term in
the United States Senate. Senator Hagel’s duties include membership
on four Senate committees: Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing and Urban
Affairs; Intelligence and Rules.
Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Hagel worked in the private
sector as the President of McCarthy & Co., an investment banking firm
based in Omaha, Nebraska, and served as Chairman of the Board of American
Information Systems (AIS). Before joining McCarthy & Co., Hagel was
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Private Sector Council (PSC)
in Washington, D.C., Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the
1990 Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations (G-7 Summit) and President
and Chief Executive Officer of the World USO.
In the mid-1980's, Hagel co-founded VANGUARD Cellular Systems, Inc., a
publicly traded corporation. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated
Hagel to serve as Deputy Administrator of the Veterans Administration, a
nomination confirmed by the United States Senate. Hagel also served as
Deputy Commissioner General of the United States for the 1982 World’s
Fair. From 1977 through 1980, Hagel was Manager of Government Affairs for
The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in Washington, D.C. From 1971 to 1977,
he was Administrative Assistant to Congressman John Y. McCollister
(R-Nebraska). Beginning in 1969, Hagel worked as a newscaster and talk
show host with radio stations KBON and KLNG in Omaha, Nebraska.
Hagel served in Vietnam with his brother Tom in 1968. They served side by
side as infantry squad leaders with the U.S. Army’s 9th Infantry Division.
Hagel earned many military decorations and honors, including two Purple
Hearts.
Hagel has served on the Board of Trustees Manville Personal Injury
Settlement Trust and as Chairman of the $240 million Agent Orange
Settlement Fund. His participation in civic, educational, and charitable
organizations has included: Board of Directors, Greater Omaha Chamber of
Commerce; Chairman, 10th Anniversary Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial; Board of
Directors and National Advisory Committee of the Friends of the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial; Board of Directors of the Arlington National Cemetery
Historical Society; Chairman of the Board of No Greater Love, Inc.; USO’s
World Board of Governors; and the World USO Chairman’s Advisory Council.
He is a life member of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars,
Vietnam Veterans of America, Disabled American Veterans, and the Military
Order of the Purple Heart.
Among the institutions for which Hagel serves as a Board or Advisory
Committee member are: the Institute of Politics at Harvard University;
International Republican Institute; the German Marshall Fund’s Trade and
Poverty Forum; Director Emeritus, the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute;
the Private Sector Council; the Ripon Society; the American Red Cross;
Bread for the World; and the Council on Foreign Relations. Hagel is a
Trustee at Bellevue University and Hastings College. Hagel is co-chairman
of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Corporate Council.
Hagel was the subject of a 2006 book by University of Nebraska professor
Charlyne Berens entitled, Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward. He has
received the Omaha World-Herald's 2005 - "Midlander of the Year" Award;
the Washington Coal Club Annual Achievement Award; 2006 Luminosity Award
from the Bonnie J. Addario Breath Away From the Cure Foundation; the
University of Nebraska at Omaha's 2006 Alumni Award for Excellence in
Public Service; 2006 Don Wagner Leadership Award; 2005 Marlin Fitzwater
Excellence in Public Communication Award; 2005 Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars Public Service Award; 2005 American
Association of School Administrators Champion of Children Award; 2004
Edmund S. Muskie Distinguished Public Service Award; the Atlantic
Council’s 2004 Award for Distinguished International Leadership; the
Fragile X Research Foundation’s Research Beacon Award; the National Parent
Teacher Association’s Outstanding Child Advocacy Award and the Committee
for Education Funding’s Special Recognition Award; The University Club’s
William Howard Taft Public Service Award; the European Institute’s
Transatlantic Leadership Award; and the National School Board
Association’s Special Recognition Award.
Among other honors Hagel has
received are the 82nd Airborne Division Association's Recognition for the
"National Airborne Day" Senate Resolution; the first annual Cordell Hull
Award; the Horatio Alger Award from the Horatio Alger Association; The
Vietnam Veterans of America Legislator of the Year Award; membership in
the Consumers for World Trade Hall of Fame; the Center for the Study of
the Presidency’s Distinguished Service Medal; The American Farm Bureau
Federation’s Golden Plow Award; The Friend of the Farm Bureau Award; the
Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Nebraska at Omaha; an
Honorary Doctorate of Public Service degree from the College of William
and Mary; an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Creighton University; an
Honorary Doctorate of Commerce from Bellevue University; the Secretary of
Defense's Medal for Outstanding Civic Achievement, the first World USO
Leadership Award; the University of Nebraska-Kearney George W. Norris
Distinguished Lecturer Award; and the Small Business Administration’s
Nebraska Veterans Advocate of the Year Award.
A fourth generation Nebraskan, Hagel was born in North Platte, Nebraska on
October 4, 1946. He graduated from St. Bonaventure High School, Columbus,
Nebraska, the Brown Institute for Radio and Television, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Hagel and his wife,
Lilibet, have two children, daughter Allyn, 16, and son Ziller, 14.
