Dr. Wharton has been a black pioneer in four different fields - philanthropy, foreign economic development, higher education, and business.

He is the former chairman and chief executive officer of TIAA-CREF, the world's largest pension fund with assets of $260 billion. He thereby became the first black to become CEO of a Fortune 500 company (No. 18 on the 1999 list). Among his previous positions are: president of Michigan State University (1970-78); chancellor of the State University of New York System (1978-87); and chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation succeeding Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh. He has served six presidents in foreign policy advisory posts. Most recently he was the Deputy Secretary of the US Department of State, in 1993, appointed by President Clinton.

Dr. Wharton's 22-year philanthropic career first began in Latin America with Nelson Rockefeller. Subsequently, he was resident in Southeast Asia from 1958 to 1964 representing a foundation headed by John D. Rockefeller, III. During this period he also supervised the foundation's programs in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

He holds a BA degree in history from Harvard; an MA from the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University; a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago; and has been awarded 61 honorary doctorates. In 1994, he received the American Council on Education Distinguished Service Award for Lifetime Achievement.