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Peter Andrew Georgescu (born Petre Georgescu[1] on March 9, 1939, in Bucharest) is a Romanian-American business executive, author, and the chairman emeritus of Young & Rubicam.

Early life and education

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Peter's father, Valeriu C. Georgescu was the manager of the Romanian Ploiești oil fields "Româno-Americana" Society under Standard Oil of New Jersey.[2] During the Second World War he worked as an agent of the British Special Operations Executive in Romania and later served in the Sănătescu cabinet. After the war, Valeriu left Romania in 1947 on a business trip to New York City and never returned home as he was on the list of politicians in the Tămădău affair.[3][1]

While Valeriu Georgescu and his wife were in the United States, his two sons, Petre and Constantin, were arrested together with their grandparents. Their maternal grandfather, Sever Bocu [ro], was taken to the Sighet Prison while the two boys and their grandmother were taken to a forced labor camp in eastern Romania. Due to his known history, Valeriu had been asked to spy for the Soviet Union to keep his sons safe in Romania.[4] Declining the offer, Valeriu turned towards the press at the advice of the U.S. Government and obtained the intervention of Congresswoman Frances Payne Bolton of Ohio and President Dwight Eisenhower.[5][6] With pressure from Eisenhower, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej agreed to release Georgescu's sons and mother-in-law,[7] and a prisoner exchange for some Soviet spies was negotiated by CIA agent Frank Wisner.[3]

In 1954, Peter arrived in America with his brother and grandmother.[5][6] Also in 1954, shortly following the boys' release and safe arrival in the United States, they appeared on the Today Show with Dave Garroway in an interview.[8]

Peter Georgescu went on to attend Phillips Exeter Academy at the invitation of the headmaster and subsequently to earn his BA degree from Princeton University and his MBA from Stanford.[9]

Business career and writing

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Georgescu became chairman and CEO of Young & Rubicam in 1994 and served in those positions until 2000.[10][11] As chairman he began to streamline the company's operations. In 1995 Y&R began an acquisition push increasing ownership in advertising agencies and public relations firms across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.[12]

Georgescu is the author of the books The Constant Choice: An Everyday Journey From Evil Towards Good[13] and The Source of Success[14][15] and he wrote the foreword for "Eisenhower on Leadership: Ike's Enduring Lessons in Total Victory Management".[16][17][18] He was interviewed on The Constant Choice by Leonard Lopate on the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC, the NPR affiliate in New York City.[19] He was elected to the American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame in 2011.[20][21]

An opinion piece Georgescu penned in the Sunday Review section of The New York Times, on financial disparity, titled, "Capitalists, Arise: We Need to Deal with Income Inequality", in which he argues that monetary disparity in the U.S. has to be addressed as the situation otherwise would lead to unbearable taxes or social tempest, engendered over one thousand comments on the newspaper's Facebook page.[22][23]

Georgescu has sat on the Board of Trustees of NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital since 1996.[24]

Georgescu received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1997.[25][26]

Georgescu endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b Alina Pop (2 April 2016). "Povestea spionilor pro–britanici coordonați de Iuliu Maniu. Deconspirați de o agentă Gestapo, au stat trei ani în beciul Ministerului de Interne". Adevărul (in Romanian).
  2. ^ "Valeriu Georgescu, Oil Executive, Dies; Consultant Was 89". The New York Times. 4 November 1993. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b Andrei Muraru (2021-09-27). "Fabuloasa viață a lui Peter Georgescu. De la ostatic într-o tabără comunistă de muncă, la legendă a publicității americane". republica.ro (in Romanian).
  4. ^ Mihai Duță (14 October 2020). "Peter Georgescu, din lagărul de muncă al comuniștilor, în topul managerilor lumii". Newsweek (in Romanian).
  5. ^ a b "The Department of State Bulletin". google.com. 1954. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  6. ^ a b "The Economist". google.com. 1999. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  7. ^ Deletant, Dennis (2016). British Clandestine Activities in Romania during the Second World War. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. xiii. ISBN 9781349555093.
  8. ^ "Peter Georgescu urges Chamber audience to commit selfless acts". palmbeachdailynews.com. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Peter Georgescu: Companies Must Bring All Stakeholders to the Table". Stanford Graduate School of Business. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Georgescu '61 reflects on evil". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  11. ^ "Peter A. Georgescu". huffpost.com. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Young & Rubicam: The Market Makers: How Peter Georgescu And His Team Turned Adland's Most Private Agency Into Its Biggest Public Coming-Out". AdWeek. 9 March 1998. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: The Constant Choice: An Everyday Journey from Evil Toward Good by Peter Georgescu with David Dorsey". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  14. ^ Sloan, Julia (11 August 2006). Learning to Think Strategically. ISBN 1136387935. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  15. ^ "2005 Dean's Lecture Series presents Peter A. Georgescu, Chairman Emeritus of Young & Rubicam. - Video Room". Videoroom, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  16. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: Eisenhower on Leadership: Ike's Enduring Lessons in Total Victory Management by Alan Axelrod". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  17. ^ Georgescu, Peter (15 July 2005). The Source of Success. ISBN 9780787981334. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  18. ^ Axelrod, Alan; Georgescu, Peter (2 March 2010). Eisenhower on Leadership. ISBN 9780470768662. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  19. ^ "Peter Georgescu on Good and Evil". WNYC. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  20. ^ "AAF Elects New Hall of Famers". AdWeek. 8 January 2001. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  21. ^ "AAF Hall of Fame: Members". advertisinghall.org. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  22. ^ Georgescu, Peter (7 August 2015). "Capitalists, Arise: We Need to Deal With Income Inequality". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  23. ^ Georgescu, Peter (12 August 2015). "Capitalists, Arise!: Q. & A. With Peter Georgescu". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  24. ^ "NYP.org About Us Governance and Leadership Board of Trustees". Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  25. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  26. ^ "Martha Stewart Biography and Interview". Awards Council member Martha Stewart presents the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award to Peter Georgescu, chairman of Young & Rubicam, during the 1997 "Salute to Excellence" program in Baltimore, MD.
  27. ^ Mandelbaum, R., More Business Leaders Sign On With Clinton, Forbes, September 23, 2016.
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