American humanitarian
Mary Jean Eisenhower
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Mary Jean Eisenhower at the Military Child of the Year Awards Gala in 2013
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Born
| (
1955-12-21
)
December 21, 1955
(age 68)
|
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Occupation
| Chairman of
People to People International
|
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Spouse
| James Brewton Millard
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Children
| 1
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Parents
| |
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Mary Jean Eisenhower
(born December 21, 1955) is an American humanitarian. She is the
chairman
emeritus
(and former
president
and chief executive officer) of
People to People International
. She is a granddaughter of General
Dwight D. Eisenhower
,
34th President of the United States
.
[1]
Early life
[
edit
]
Mary Eisenhower was born in Washington, D.C., during her grandfather's first term and christened in
the Blue Room
of the
White House
. She grew up on
Eisenhower estate
in
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
, where President Eisenhower retired after leaving office. Ms. Eisenhower attended
Schuylkill Consolidated School
in fifth grade and
Westtown School
in Pennsylvania until her father,
John Eisenhower
, was appointed
United States Ambassador to Belgium
. She lived in
Belgium
from 1969 to 1972. Eisenhower began her career working on
Capitol Hill
and then managed an engineering firm. She also has served as a
Fellow
at
Stanford University
.
[2]
In 1973, Mary Jean Eisenhower was presented as a debutante to
high society
at the prestigious
International Debutante Ball
at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. All of her sisters and many other members of the Eisenhower family have been presented as debutantes at the International Debutante Ball in New York City.
[3]
Work with People to People International
[
edit
]
Eisenhower has worked to develop and expand the mission of
People to People International
.
[4]
She became the chief executive officer of People to People International in January 2000 and its president in 2003. Eisenhower served as chief executive officer until June 2013. She currently holds the title of chairman emeritus. In February 2016, Eisenhower resumed her position as CEO of People to People International and President in October 2016.
During her work with People to People International, Eisenhower visited
Morocco
to represent her family to the King on the 50th anniversary of the Casablanca Conference. She also traveled to the beaches of
Normandy
to meet many of the veterans who served with her grandfather on the
D-Day
invasion. In the last six years, Eisenhower has left United States soil over 70 times and visited over 40 countries. Missions have ranged from meeting first families to distributing foodstuffs in developing countries to cultural and humanitarian exchanges.
Inspired by an orphanage she visited in Morocco, Eisenhower launched the People to People International Friendship Fund in 1999. The Fund is designed to enable individuals to support the service-oriented facilities they visit throughout the world and to provide a mechanism through which the network of PTPI Chapters can assist one another. Today, the fund has supported causes ranging from the Global Humanitarian Eradication of Landmines,
Children's Mercy Hospital
in
London
,
England
,
United Kingdom
, earthquake relief in
India
, disaster relief to victims of
September 11 attacks
, and their families, support of under resourced schools in
China
and
Sri Lanka
, a home for
leukemia
victims and their families in
Cuba
, to a library project in
Vietnam
and the Friends of Egypt organization. One hundred percent of all funds received by the International Friendship Fund are allocated in support of the projects specified by donors.
[5]
After the
September 11 attacks
, Eisenhower became intently focused upon bringing young people from around the globe into contact with one another in order to expose them to diverse cultures and conflict management tools that might facilitate the amelioration of long-standing disputes. Her vision came to fruition with Peace Camp 2003: An Evolution of Thought and Change and the Global Peace Initiative. Both the Peace Camp and the Global Peace Initiative brought participants from over 30 nationalities together in
Egypt
to discuss contemporary issues and gain nuanced insights into the varied and unique cultures represented among the participants.
Suzanne Mubarak
, former
First Lady of Egypt
, co-hosted this event.
People to People International filed for bankruptcy on March 22, 2022, in Missouri Western Bankruptcy court.
[6]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Mary Jean Eisenhower and Army 2nd Lt. James Brewton Millard married in May 1976 at a private military ceremony in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, attended by her grandmother, former First Lady
Mamie Eisenhower
.
[7]
Her son is Merrill Eisenhower Atwater, who became chief operations officer and then chief executive officer of People to People International in 2018.
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
Awards
[
edit
]
Eisenhower has been awarded the Knight of Peace Award from the International University in
Assisi, Italy
. She also holds Honorary Doctorates in Humane Letters from
Schiller International University
,
Park University
and
William Jewell College
. She also holds an
Honorary Doctorate
in Law from
York College
, in York, Nebraska. She was awarded the
Medal of Honor from the Slovak Republic
as well as Friendship Ambassador from the People's Republic of China, The Award of Excellence from the
Consular Corps
, Membership in the
OSS Society
, among others.
Family tree
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Larsen, Douglas (December 28, 1955).
"Mary Jane Eisenhower Enters Life Facing Two Demanding Traditions"
.
Florence Times
. p. Section 2 Page 3
. Retrieved
June 3,
2017
.
- ^
"Bio of Mary Jean Eisenhower"
. MJ Eisenhower & Associates
. Retrieved
June 3,
2017
.
- ^
"Eisenhower Gathering Marks Debutante Ball"
.
The New York Times
. 29 December 1973
. Retrieved
12 June
2018
.
- ^
"Eisenhower Granddaughter Pushes Exchange Programs"
.
Boca Raton News
. October 24, 2002. p. 31
. Retrieved
June 3,
2017
.
- ^
"Welcome to PTPI"
. People to People International
. Retrieved
June 3,
2017
.
- ^
Lukitsch, Bill (March 25, 2022).
"Parents feel cheated by Kansas City student travel provider People to People"
.
The Kansas City Star
. Retrieved
October 13,
2022
.
- ^
"Mary Eisenhower Wed"
.
The Times-News
.
Hendersonville, North Carolina
. May 31, 1976
. Retrieved
June 3,
2017
.
- ^
"Dwight D. Eisenhower's Great Grandson to Speak at Eisenhower MS"
.
The Oregon Oracle
. Vol. 12, no. 2.
Orgegon City Schools
. April 2013. p. 2
. Retrieved
October 2,
2020
– via
Issuu
.
- ^
"Dwight D. Eisenhower inducted into Kansas Walk of Honor"
.
Kansas Department of Administration
. October 7, 2015
. Retrieved
October 11,
2019
.
- ^
"Director of Aviation Merrill Atwater departs KDOT"
(PDF)
(Press release).
Kansas Department of Transportation
. December 20, 2017
. Retrieved
October 11,
2019
.
- ^
"About PTPI"
. People to People International
. Retrieved
October 13,
2019
.