Thomas J. Donohue, who served as CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 1997 – 2021, passed away peacefully and surrounded by loved ones on October 14, 2024. Tom was best known for his extraordinary leadership of the U.S. Chamber, which he is credited with transforming into the nation’s strongest and most effective advocate for American business.
As a business leader, Tom was a towering figure, and across his decades-long career, his Irish toughness, combined with his genuine compassion, made him a unique and impactful voice in Washington and around the world. He gave business a seat at the table and a voice in the debate in a way it never had before.
Tom will be remembered for his boundless energy, his eternal optimism, his inspired and fearless leadership, and a generous heart which touched the lives of so many over a life lived with great purpose, principle, and kindness.
It is through kindness, more so than his remarkable professional achievements, that Tom left his most enduring legacy. As a fellow association CEO said of Tom, he “could command the attention of presidents and prime ministers, of CEOs and media moguls. When he spoke, they listened. But it was his actions outside of the spotlight that revealed his true character. His compassion and his care for his fellow human—that’s what distinguished him. There are countless individuals who have benefited from Tom’s empathy and instinctive desire to help.”
To his sons, Tom was a giant. A commanding figure to be admired, an active parent deeply engaged with his boys (despite the growing demands of his career, Tom never missed a game or a scouting event), and a rock to rely upon for guidance, support, compassion, and love. To his beloved grandchildren, Tom was their doting “Pop-Pop,” who often turned to mush in their company but still managed to share plenty of wisdom and important advice. To his sisters, Carol and Noel (twins born on Christmas Eve) and Frances (the youngest, who was with Tom often through his final days), Tom was an ideal older brother who took the role to heart and never stopped protecting, advising, supporting, and caring for his little sisters.
Tom’s life began in Brooklyn, NY, where he was the eldest of four children born to Ruth (Ahern) and Thomas Donohue. When he was eight years old, Tom contracted rheumatic fever. The illness damaged his heart and cut short his second grade, but Tom recovered with his indomitable young spirit intact, and he seemed forever after resolved to achieve important things and to make his mark on this world.
Tom was an active and determined Boy Scout, obtaining the highest rank of Eagle Scout (a post that all three of his sons would later achieve with Tom’s help), and played varsity high school basketball at St. Agnes in Rockville Centre, NY. Tom “always had a job,” and usually several at once. As a young man, this included laboring on his uncle’s farm, mowing lawns, making deliveries for the local butcher and liquor stores, and during his college summers, helping to run a Boy Scout camp, where he was responsible for feeding over a thousand young scouts three times a day.
Tom attended St. John's University in New York and lived at home to save money, working at least four different jobs to pay his way through school. It was at St. John’s that Tom met his future wife, Elizabeth (“Liz”) Schulz. Liz was beautiful, kind, and had a radiant smile that could light up a room. She was also exceptionally smart, and Tom was smitten. Liz taught Tom to read phonetically (he was dyslexic, and his reading had suffered from the primary school missed for rheumatic fever) by strolling arm-in-arm with him up and down Fifth Avenue, reading together the doctors’ names on the physician's office doors.
Tom and Liz were married in June of 1963 and began their extraordinary life together. Tom ‘s professional career advanced quickly. He was driven and determined, and Liz, the “smart one”, was always by his side—advising, supporting, and counseling as Tom’s work took the couple and their three boys from New York to stays in California, Connecticut, and finally, Washington, DC.
Tom’s earliest jobs were transformative. The first, with the Boy Scouts of America, trained Tom in fundraising, organization, planning, and business strategy—skills that empowered Tom throughout his career. Tom next worked with Abilities, Inc., a group founded by Henry Viscardi, who had been born with no legs. Tom’s mission was to find jobs for wounded World War II veterans and other disabled people. The work was inspiring and helped to shape Tom’s purpose-driven leadership philosophy. According to Tom, “From Henry, I learned it doesn't matter if people think you can't do it; if you want to do it and it's honorable and reasonable, you can usually get it done."
Tom went on to senior development roles at both the College of New Rochelle and Fairfield University. Ted Klassen, a Fairfield director who went on to become the U.S. postmaster general, recruited Tom from Fairfield to join him at the Postal Service as deputy assistant postmaster general. In 1976, Tom joined the U.S. Chamber as a senior vice president and ran the organization's foundation as well as its federation, membership, and grassroots operations. In 1984, Tom became president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), where for 13 years he represented the vital interests of America’s trucking industry in Washington, D.C., and built the ATA into one of the nation’s strongest trade associations.
Tom re-joined the U.S. Chamber in 1997 as its president and CEO. During his tenure at its helm, Tom built the Chamber into a lobbying and political powerhouse with expanded influence across the globe. He established the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, expanded the activities of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, reinvigorated the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and launched Hiring Our Heroes, a program that identifies job opportunities for returning veterans and military spouses. Tom always viewed his role at the Chamber as imbued with a larger patriotic purpose—by strengthening American business and free enterprise, we in turn strengthened our great country and America’s global security.
Tom, with Liz, was a significant benefactor of several charitable causes and organizations, including So Others May Eat (SOME), the Lombardi and MD Anderson Cancer Centers, the Alzheimer Association’s Brain Ball, and many others. Their greatest charitable endeavors, however, were private and never broadcast, and known only to the many families and individuals who benefited from their profound generosity and unconditional support in times of need.
Following his retirement from the Chamber, Tom continued to be driven by intellectual curiosity and patriotic duty. Through the work of The Donohue Group, Tom remained engaged on the topics he thought most important to the future of our nation. He generously gave his time and service to the boards of the U.S. Chamber, the Hudson Institute, the Center for International Private Enterprise, and Marymount University.
Tom earned a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University and a master’s degree in business administration from Adelphi University. He holds honorary degrees from Adelphi, St. John’s, Marymount, Bradley, and Pepperdine universities, along with the National University of Ireland at Maynooth. He is a recipient of the Horatio Alger Award and the Boy Scouts of America National Capital Area Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He holds the highest civilian honor from Germany and South Korea, as well as the Order of the Crown (Commander Class) presented by the Crown Prince of Belgium and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun awarded by the Government of Japan.
Tom is survived by his sister Frances Demuth, his three sons Thomas Jr., Keith (Karen), and John (Stephanie), and his five grandchildren, Sam, Whitney, Kathleen, J.T, and Quinna. Tom is pre-deceased by his sisters Carol Carem and Noel Jackson. Tom’s beloved wife of 54 years, Liz Donohue, passed away in 2017 after a brave, multi-year battle with Leukemia. Over the last several years, Tom was blessed to share a wonderful relationship with his companion, Margot Wilson.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Tom’s memory to So Others Might Eat (SOME).
