John R. Padget
John Padget lives in Key West, Florida, but travels frequently to New York, Europe and the Caribbean, looking after investments and aiding his favorite charitable activities. Born on a farm in upstate New York, Padget graduated from Cornell University with Bachelor's and Master's degrees and earned his M.B.A. from Harvard University.
His business life included international assignments, and he launched Padget Associates, a private equity investment firm in Amsterdam. Currently, he spends most of his time on charitable projects, the most notable of which is Florida's Take Stock In Children, where he serves on Take Stock's state board of directors and its executive committee; and the boards of the Monroe County Education Foundation and the Florida Keys Educational Foundation.
Padget's public service began with an appointment by Governor Bush as interim Superintendent of Monroe County Schools in 2003 and 2004. In addition to the Collins Institute, he serves as a board member of the Askew Institute at the University of Florida. Governor Crist has appointed Padget as Commissioner at the Lower Florida Keys Hospital District, and to Florida's state Board of Education for a term ending December 31, 2012, subject to Senate confirmation.
Among other recognitions and honors, the University of Rochester awarded Padget an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. The Queen of the Netherlands made him a Knight in the house of Orange, honoring him for contributions to Dutch-American relations. In 2003, Padget was awarded the Golden Medal in the Order of the Lion from Ethiopia. In 2006, Padget received the prestigious Ambassador K. Terry Dornbush Award from the Netherlands-America Foundation for his international public service.