George Herbert Walker III was sworn in as Ambassador to Hungary on September 30, 2003. Mr. Walker is Chairman Emeritus of Stifel Financial Corp. and Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated. From 1978 until 1992, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Stifel Financial and Stifel, Nicolaus. He served as Chairman from 1982-2001. From the time he joined Stifel in 1976 as Executive Vice President to the present, Stifel has evolved from a small privately-owned firm with revenue of approximately $12 million to a public firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange with revenues of more than $200 million, more than 1,000 employees, and a new worth of more than $75 million. During the course of his business career, Mr. Walker served on the Board of Midwest Stock Exchange (now Chicago Stock Exchange), the Regional Firms Advisory Committee of the New York Stock Exchange, and the Executive Committee of the Securities Industry Association. Mr. Walker’s interests have extended to education, politics, and civic affairs. Since 1974, he has served as a Director of Webster University and as Chairman of the Board from 1987-1992. He now also serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board to the Webster University Business School and is Chairman of the Daniel Webster Society (annual fund-raising organization). In politics, Mr. Walker has been active on both local and national levels. He was active in the national campaigns of both Presidents Reagan and Bush. In 1993, Mayor Bogley, Jr. requested Mr. Walker to form a blue-ribbon advisory committee on budget and finance to guide him at the start of his administration. More recently, this committee was reformed to be named Citizens for Home Rule, which is a group seeking to reform the structure of the city government. As the founder of this effort and Chairman of its Steering Committee (which includes all four former mayors of St. Louis and the current mayor), the focus is now to pass a state wide constitutional amendment, which will empower the voters in the city to change the structure of the city government if they choose – a power enjoyed by other cities in Missouri but denied to St. Louis under the 1876 Constitution. In civic affairs, Mr. Walker has served as Chairman of Downtown St. Louis, Inc. (now Downtown St. Louis Partnership), and as the first Chairman of the Downtown St. Louis Business District. He headed the Alexis de Tocqueville Society of the United Way in 1995. He is a board member (former Chairman) of the Missouri Historical Society, the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, and Webster University. He is a commissioner and treasurer of the St. Louis Science Center and also a member of Washington University’s National Council for the Olin School of Business. He is a member of the Siteman Cancer Center Advisory Board. Mr. Walker is a member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Ladue and serves on the Vestry. He is also on the Vestry of St. Ann’s Church in Kennebunkport, Maine, and for many years was a Director of the Episcopal Church Foundation. In business, in addition to his role at Stifel, Nicolaus, Mr. Walker is a Director of Laidlaw Corporation, Western-Southern Life Insurance Company, and Macroeconomic Advisors, Inc. Mr. Walker is a graduate of Yale University
(B.A., 1953) and Harvard Law School (J.D., 1956). He served in the U.S.
Air Force from 1956-1958. Released on September 30, 2003 |
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