Former Massachusetts Governor
Mitt Romney has been widely recognized for his leadership and
accomplishments as a public servant and in private enterprise.
Elected in 2002, Governor Romney presided over a dramatic reversal of
state fortunes and a period of sustained economic expansion. Without
raising taxes or increasing debt, Governor Romney balanced the budget
every year of his administration, closing a $3 billion budget gap
inherited when he took office. By eliminating waste, streamlining the
government, and enacting comprehensive economic reforms to stimulate
growth in Massachusetts, Romney got the economy moving again and
transformed deficits into surpluses.
At the beginning of Governor Romney's term, Massachusetts was losing
thousands of jobs every month. Today, the unemployment rate is lower,
hundreds of companies have expanded or moved to Massachusetts and the
state has added approximately 60,000 jobs in the last two years.
One of Governor Romney's top priorities was reforming the education system
so that young people could compete for good paying jobs in the global
economy of the future. In 2004, Governor Romney established the John and
Abigail Adams Scholarship Program to reward the top 25 percent of
Massachusetts high school students with a four-year, tuition-free
scholarship to any Massachusetts public university or college. He has also
championed a package of education reforms, including merit pay, an
emphasis on math and science instruction, important new intervention
programs for failing schools and English immersion for foreign-speaking
students.
In 2006, Governor Romney proposed and signed into law a private,
market-based reform that ensures every Massachusetts citizen will have
health insurance, without a government takeover and without raising taxes.
Governor Romney was elected to the Chairmanship of the Republican
Governors Association by his fellow Governors for the 2006 election cycle,
and raised a record $27 million for candidates running in State House
contests around the country.
Romney first gained national recognition for his role in turning around
the 2002 Winter Olympics. With the 2002 Games mired in controversy and
facing a financial crisis, Romney left behind a successful career as an
entrepreneur to take over as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing
Committee.
Governor Romney has said he felt compelled to assume the seemingly
impossible task of rescuing the Games by both the urgings of his wife,
Ann, and by the memory of his father, George Romney, who had been a
successful businessman, three-term Governor of Michigan, and a tireless
advocate of volunteerism in America.
In his three years at the helm in Salt Lake, Romney erased a $379 million
operating deficit, organized 23,000 volunteers, galvanized community
spirit and oversaw an unprecedented security mobilization just months
after the September 11th attacks, leading to one of the most successful
Olympics in our country's history.
Prior to his Olympic service, Mitt Romney enjoyed a successful career
helping businesses grow and improve their operations. From 1978 to 1984,
Mr. Romney was a Vice President at Bain & Company, Inc., a leading
management consulting firm. In 1984, Romney founded Bain Capital, one of
the nation's most successful venture capital and investment companies.
Bain Capital helped launch hundreds of companies on a successful course,
including Staples, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Domino's Pizza,
Sealy, Brookstone, and The Sports Authority. He was asked to return to
Bain & Company as CEO several years later in order to lead a financial
restructuring of the organization. Today, Bain & Company employs more than
2,000 people in 25 offices worldwide.
Governor Romney has been deeply involved in community and civic affairs,
serving extensively in his church and numerous charities including City
Year, the Boy Scouts, and the Points of Light Foundation. He was also the
Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 1994.
Governor Romney received his B.A., with Highest Honors, from Brigham Young
University in 1971. In 1975, he was awarded an MBA from Harvard Business
School, where he was named a Baker Scholar, and a J.D., cum laude, from
Harvard Law School.
