Board of Directors

Ambassador Randall L. Tobias

Administrator
Agency for International Development
U.S. Director of Foreign Assistance

Ambassador Tobias was sworn in as Administrator, USAID on Friday, March 31, 2006.

From 1964 to 1966, he served on active duty as an artillery officer assigned to the faculty at the United States Army Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He then joined AT&T where he held a number of positions with company subsidiaries in Indiana and Illinois. In 1978 he became vice president of the company’s Illinois Bell subsidiary in Chicago. In 1981, he was assigned to AT&T’s global headquarters in New Jersey where he later ran AT&T’s worldwide long distance and network businesses as Chairman and CEO of AT&T Communications. He played a major role in helping to lead AT&T through the difficult period following the breakup of the Bell System in 1984, serving as Vice Chairman of AT&T from 1986 until 1993 and, additionally, as Chairman and CEO of AT&T International from 1991 until 1993.

In 1993, he joined Eli Lilly and Company as Chairman, President and CEO. Under Tobias’s leadership, the company experienced a dramatic turnaround and enjoyed one of the most successful periods in its history. On January 1, 1999, upon his retirement from the company, he was named Chairman Emeritus. After stepping down from his post at Lilly, he focused his attention on a number of business, community and philanthropic interests and on teaching and writing. His book on leadership lessons learned, Put The Moose On The Table, written with his son, Todd Tobias, was published in early 2003.

On July 2, 2003, President Bush announced his intent to nominate Tobias to serve as the first United States Global AIDS Coordinator with the rank of Ambassador. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 3, 2003 and sworn in on October 6, 2003. Ambassador Tobias was responsible for launching the highly successful President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and oversees all U.S. Government international HIV/AIDS assistance across the various agencies and departments of the United States Government that deliver it. He reported directly to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

On January 19, 2006, President Bush announced his intent to name Ambassador Tobias as the nation’s first Director of United States Foreign Assistance, and to nominate him to serve concurrently as Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the principal government agency that administers economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide. Ambassador Tobias was confirmed as USAID Administrator and Director of United States Foreign Assistance by the U.S. Senate on March 29, 2006. He continues to report to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and holds the rank of Deputy Secretary of State. In addition to his direct responsibilities for USAID and Department of State foreign assistance funding and programs, Ambassador Tobias is responsible for providing strategic direction and guidance to all other foreign assistance programs delivered through the various agencies and entities of the U.S. Government, including the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator.

Among his honors, Ambassador Tobias was named Pharmaceutical Industry CEO of the Year by the Wall Street Transcript in 1995, and CEO of the Year in 1996 by Working Mother magazine. In 1997, he was named one of the "Top Twenty-Five Managers of the Year" by Business Week Magazine. He was also named the "Norman Vincent Peale Humanitarian of the Year" in 1997. He received the "Positive Ally Award" from the National Association of People with AIDS in 2005.

Ambassador Tobias has served on a number of corporate boards, including AT&T, Eli Lilly and Company, Chemical Bank of New York, Agilent Technologies, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Knight-Ridder, Inc., and ConocoPhillips Petroleum Company. He also served for 12 years as a trustee of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and for 13 years as a trustee of Duke University including three years as chair of the board.

Ambassador Tobias earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 1964, and has been awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees by Indiana University, Wabash College, Butler University, Gallaudet University, and Ball State University, and an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He has also been awarded the Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI) Urban University Medal.

Ambassador Tobias was sworn in as Administrator, USAID on Friday, March 31, 2006.

From 1964 to 1966, he served on active duty as an artillery officer assigned to the faculty at the United States Army Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He then joined AT&T where he held a number of positions with company subsidiaries in Indiana and Illinois. In 1978 he became vice president of the company’s Illinois Bell subsidiary in Chicago. In 1981, he was assigned to AT&T’s global headquarters in New Jersey where he later ran AT&T’s worldwide long distance and network businesses as Chairman and CEO of AT&T Communications. He played a major role in helping to lead AT&T through the difficult period following the breakup of the Bell System in 1984, serving as Vice Chairman of AT&T from 1986 until 1993 and, additionally, as Chairman and CEO of AT&T International from 1991 until 1993.

In 1993, he joined Eli Lilly and Company as Chairman, President and CEO. Under Tobias’s leadership, the company experienced a dramatic turnaround and enjoyed one of the most successful periods in its history. On January 1, 1999, upon his retirement from the company, he was named Chairman Emeritus. After stepping down from his post at Lilly, he focused his attention on a number of business, community and philanthropic interests and on teaching and writing. His book on leadership lessons learned, Put The Moose On The Table, written with his son, Todd Tobias, was published in early 2003.

On July 2, 2003, President Bush announced his intent to nominate Tobias to serve as the first United States Global AIDS Coordinator with the rank of Ambassador. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 3, 2003 and sworn in on October 6, 2003. Ambassador Tobias was responsible for launching the highly successful President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and oversees all U.S. Government international HIV/AIDS assistance across the various agencies and departments of the United States Government that deliver it. He reported directly to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

On January 19, 2006, President Bush announced his intent to name Ambassador Tobias as the nation’s first Director of United States Foreign Assistance, and to nominate him to serve concurrently as Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the principal government agency that administers economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide. Ambassador Tobias was confirmed as USAID Administrator and Director of United States Foreign Assistance by the U.S. Senate on March 29, 2006. He continues to report to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and holds the rank of Deputy Secretary of State. In addition to his direct responsibilities for USAID and Department of State foreign assistance funding and programs, Ambassador Tobias is responsible for providing strategic direction and guidance to all other foreign assistance programs delivered through the various agencies and entities of the U.S. Government, including the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator.

Among his honors, Ambassador Tobias was named Pharmaceutical Industry CEO of the Year by the Wall Street Transcript in 1995, and CEO of the Year in 1996 by Working Mother magazine. In 1997, he was named one of the "Top Twenty-Five Managers of the Year" by Business Week Magazine. He was also named the "Norman Vincent Peale Humanitarian of the Year" in 1997. He received the "Positive Ally Award" from the National Association of People with AIDS in 2005.

Ambassador Tobias has served on a number of corporate boards, including AT&T, Eli Lilly and Company, Chemical Bank of New York, Agilent Technologies, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Knight-Ridder, Inc., and ConocoPhillips Petroleum Company. He also served for 12 years as a trustee of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and for 13 years as a trustee of Duke University including three years as chair of the board.

Ambassador Tobias earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 1964, and has been awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees by Indiana University, Wabash College, Butler University, Gallaudet University, and Ball State University, and an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He has also been awarded the Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis (IUPUI) Urban University Medal.