Donald J. Shepard
Chairman of the Board of Directors, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

 

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Donald J. Shepard is chairman of the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Previously, he served as U.S. Chamber vice chairman and is currently a member of the Executive Committee.

Shepard retired as chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of AEGON N.V. in April 2008 in keeping with the mandatory retirement age for Executive Board members of AEGON N.V. AEGON, headquartered in the Netherlands, is one of the world’s leading insurance groups ranked by market capitalization and assets. AEGON’s three major markets are the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In addition, AEGON has operations in Canada, Hungary, Spain, China, and Taiwan and is also active in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland.

Shepard began his career with Life Investors, Inc., an insurance holding company, in 1970. Serving in various management and executive functions with Life Investors, he became executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1985. He held this position until AEGON consolidated its other U.S. operations with Life Investors to form AEGON USA in 1989 when he was appointed chief executive officer. In 1992, he became a member of the Executive Board of AEGON N.V. In April 2002, he was appointed chairman of the Executive Board and chief executive officer.

Shepard holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. He serves as a member of the boards of directors of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., the CSX Corporation, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He is a past chairman of The Financial Services Roundtable. In addition, he is a trustee of Johns Hopkins Medicine and Johns Hopkins University.