Dave Padden (Chairman)
Retired Entrepreneur

David Padden, President of Padden & Company, is a lifelong resident of Chicago. He received his B.A. from Loyola University Chicago in 1949 and an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1951. Dave spent 15 years in heavy construction work for various state, county and municipal governments. In 1963 he purchased a bond firm specializing in financing local municipal improvements.

While maintaining his base investment business, Dave has also served as CEO and/or director of several public companies and trade associations. He has been active in various trade associations, and local civic and charitable organizations.

An ardent student and teacher of economics and political science, Mr. Padden has been actively associated with market-oriented education and public policy research organizations. He was a founding director and remains on the boards of the Cato Institute, Washington, DC and the Heartland Institute, Chicago, IL.  He also had long-term
tenure on the boards of the Foundation for Economic Education, Irvington, NY; FreedomWorks, Washington, DC and the Acton Institute, Grand Rapids, MI.