Electronic Data Systems
Which employer did John Engler work for from 2003 to 2004?
John Engler John Mathias Engler ( born October 12 , 1948 ) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003 . A member of the Republican Party , he later worked for Business Roundtable , where The Hill called him one of the countrys top lobbyists . Engler has spent most of his adult life in government . He was serving in the Michigan Senate when he enrolled at Thomas M . Cooley Law School and graduated with a Juris Doctor degree , having served as a Michigan State senator since 1979 . He was elected Senate majority leader in 1984 and served there until being elected governor in 1990 . Engler served on the board of advisors of the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal , an educational organization that continues the intellectual legacy of noted conservative and Michigan native Russell Kirk . Engler also served on the board of trustees of the Marguerite Eyer Wilbur Foundation , which funds many Kirk Center programs . Engler was a member of the Annie E . Casey Foundation board of trustees until 2014 . As of 2018 , he serves on the board of directors of Universal Forest Products . Previous board service included serving as a director of Dow Jones and Delta Air Lines and as a trustee of Munder Funds . Early life and education . Engler , a Roman Catholic , was born in Mount Pleasant , Michigan , on October 12 , 1948 , to Mathias John Engler and his wife , Agnes Marie ( née Neyer ) , but grew up on a cattle farm near Beal City . He attended Michigan State University , graduating with a degree in agricultural economics in 1971 , and Thomas M . Cooley Law School , graduating with a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1981 . He was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives as a state representative in 1970 at the age of 22 . He served in the House from 1971 to 1978 . His campaign manager in that first election was a college friend , Dick Posthumus . Engler later became the first Republican youth vice-chair for the Michigan Republican Party , defeating future U.S . Senator Spencer Abraham . Posthumus later went on to be elected a state senator , Senate Majority Leader and Lieutenant Governor . He was Englers running mate in the 1998 election and served from 1999 to 2003 . Career . Governorship . Englers administration was characterized by privatization of state services , income tax reduction , a sales tax increase , educational reform , welfare reform , and major reorganization of executive branch departments . In 1996 , he was elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association , and in 2001 , he was elected to head the National Governors Association . In 2002 , near the end of his final term , Engler and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality attempted to negotiate a consent order with Dow Chemical that would have resulted in a ninefold increase in the allowable levels of dioxins . The consent order would have resulted in Dow not having to pay to clean up high levels of toxins in Midland , Michigan , near its plant there , as well as in the Tittabawassee flood plain , which had been contaminated by dioxins dumped into the river from the facility and from overflow from waste ponds . The consent order fell through in late 2002 . 1996 Presidential election . During the 1996 presidential election , Engler was considered by many political commentators and experts to be a serious potential vice presidential running mate for Republican nominee Bob Dole . However , Dole instead selected Jack Kemp , a former congressman and HUD secretary . 2000 Presidential election . Engler endorsed Texas Governor George W . Bush in the 2000 Republican primary . After Bush secured the GOP nomination , Englers name began to surface as a possible running mate for Bush . In his book Decision Points , Bush says that Engler was someone he was close with and could work well with . Ultimately , Engler was passed over for the running mate position in favor of Dick Cheney . After the election , Englers close political ally Spencer Abraham , who narrowly lost his re-election bid for the Senate to Debbie Stabenow , was chosen as Bushs Secretary of Energy . 2002 elections . Englers lieutenant governor , Dick Posthumus , sought to succeed Engler in the 2002 gubernatorial race . Posthumus lost the race to the states attorney general , Democrat Jennifer Granholm . Election results . In 1990 , Engler , then the state senate majority leader , challenged Governor James Blanchard in his bid for a third term . Political observers viewed his bid as a long shot , and he trailed Blanchard by double digits in the polls the weekend before the election . However , on election day , Engler pulled off the upset , defeating Blanchard by approximately 17,000 votes—a margin of less than one percentage point . In 1994 , Engler ran for his second term . The Democrats nominated former Representative Howard Wolpe , who had close ties to the labor movement—a potent force in Democratic politics in Michigan . Engler bested Wolpe 61 to 39 percent , and the state Republican Party made significant gains . Spencer Abraham picked up the Senate seat of retiring Democrat Donald Riegle . Republicans gained a seat to break a tie in the state House of Representatives , taking a 56–54 majority , while also picking up a seat in the U.S . House of Representatives . Republican Candice Miller won an upset victory to win the post of Secretary of State . Michigan voters re-elected Engler to his third and final term in 1998 . He won a landslide victory over lawyer Geoffrey Fieger . Engler took 1,883,005 votes—62 percent of the total—to Fiegers 38 percent and 1,143,574 votes . Englers landslide helped the state Republican Party to gain six seats in the state House of Representatives , taking control of the chamber they had lost two years previously with a 58–52 margin , as well as picking up an additional seat in the State Senate , for a 23–15 majority . Republicans also gained a seat on the technically non-partisan state Supreme Court , holding a 4–3 majority over the Democrats . After governorship . After leaving the governors mansion in January 2003 , Engler served as president of the state and local government sector of Electronic Data Systems . Engler left that position in June 2004 to be elected president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers . Englers six plus year tenure at the NAM ended in January 2011 . In January 2011 , Engler was named president of the Business Roundtable . In 2017 , Engler was appointed to a four-year term on the governing board of the National Assessment of Educational Progress project . Interim presidency of Michigan State University . On January 30 , 2018 , Engler was named the interim president of Michigan State University to replace Lou Anna Simon , who was embroiled with the school in the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal involving Larry Nassar . The appointment of Engler sparked controversy due to his previous handling of sexual misconduct as governor of Michigan . Englers tenure as interim president was plagued by controversies , brought on by Englers apparent callous statements and actions toward survivors during Board of Trustees meetings and statements that were reported by the press . One on Nassars victims , Rachael Denhollander , said Engler chose to stand against every child and every sexual assault victim in the entire state , to protect an institution . Engler resigned on January 16 , 2019 after the Board of Trustees indicated its intent to ask him to resign following a series of embarrassing incidents regarding Nassars victims and his responses to issues in the aftermath . Engler initially indicated he planned to resign on January 23 , 2019 but the Board required him to resign the morning after he submitted his resignation letter . Personal life . In 1974 , Engler married Colleen House Engler , who served in the Michigan House of Representatives and ran for lieutenant governor of Michigan in 1986 . She filed for divorce in 1986 . Engler married Michelle DeMunbrun , a Texas attorney , December 8 , 1990 . The couple has triplet daughters born November 13 , 1994 . As First Lady , Michelle Engler served as the founding chair of the Michigan Community Service Commission . Michelle Engler was named to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ( Freddie Mac ) board in 2001 by President George W . Bush and re-appointed in 2002 .