Talat Othman

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Talat M. Othman (born April 27, 1936, in Beitunia, Palestine) is a Palestinian-American businessman and investor. He is the president of Grove Financial, Inc. and the founding president of the . In 1973, he founded the Midwest Chapter of the . He serves as senior advisor of .[1] On July 31, 2000, he opened the Republican National Convention session with a dua'a – or Muslim benediction – marking the first time a Muslim had addressed a major US political gathering.[2] Illinois governor Jim Edgar proclaimed Nov 1, 1997 Haj Talat M. Othman day in Illinois. On April 4, 2002, Othman joined head Khaled Saffuri in a meeting with Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill (arranged by Grover Norquist) as representatives of the Muslim-American community, to voice complaints about the March 20 raid on the International Institute of Islamic Thought and 19 related entities.

In 2006, Othman received an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters from Catholic Theological Union.

Career synopsis[]

In 1947, Othman emigrated to the United States with his family. From 1956 to 1977, Othman served as an executive in the International Banking Department at Harris Trust and Savings Bank in Chicago, Illinois,[3] as vice president and division administrator of the International Money Management Division, including the International Economic Research Unit. From 1978 to 1983, Othman was general manager and chief executive officer of the Saudi Arab Finance Corporation, Luxembourg, and general manager of the Saudi Investment Group, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. From 1983 to 1995, he served as chairman and chief executive officer of Dearborn Financial Inc., Arlington Heights, Illinois. In 1987, he joined the board of Harken Energy to represent the interests of . Served as chair of the three member Audit Committee of which George W. Bush was a member. In 1990, he was among 15 Arab-Americans invited to the White House[4] after Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.[5]

In 1995, Othman established of Chicago and currently serves as its chairman and CEO.[6] It is an international investment management firm located in Long Grove, Illinois, specializing in managing investment funds and U.S.-Middle East business. He opened the July 31, 2000 session of the RNC with a Muslim benediction.[7]

Othman is president of Crescent Capital Management, LLC. Chicago, Illinois, and chairman of the board of trustees of , Bellingham, Washington.

Other affiliations[]

He is on the board of , Dansk International Designs, Hartmarx Corp, , , and Amana Mutual Funds Trust. He is advisory board member of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He is on the Dean's Council of Advisors of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He is a member of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force. He is a board member of the Middle East Policy Council. He is the founding chairman of the American Muslim Council.

He is chairman of the founded by Khaled Saffuri.

Othman served on the board of trustees for the Illinois State Universities Retirement System and the Illinois State Finance Authority. Othman is a former board member of the .

References[]

  1. ^ Stocks (2020-03-03). "Stocks - Bloomberg". Investing.businessweek.com. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
  2. ^ "Talat Othman gives prayer at 2000 Republican National Convention | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  3. ^ "Changes in Retirement Process" (PDF). www.surs.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ "Council Member Archives - Page 3 of 5". Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  5. ^ "Family Affair: The Bushes and the Bin Ladens | The Dubya Report". www.thedubyareport.com.
  6. ^ Hanania, Ray. "Arab American Media& Leadership Directory 2014/15(and other resources)A Guide to Assist in Communicating with the Arab American Community through Media Contacts, Businesses and Community Leaders" (PDF). thearabdailynews.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "Archived copy". www.islamicinstitute.org. Archived from the original on 19 August 2003. Retrieved 14 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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