RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Thomas H. Miner, founder of the influential Mid-America Committee for International Business and Cooperation and the global trade-consulting firm Thomas H. Miner & Associates celebrated his ninetieth birthday on June 19, 2017; and
WHEREAS, the Chicago City Council has been informed of this milestone by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, Thomas H. Miner, the son of Thirza Miner and Lester Ward Miner, a World War I veteran, was born Shelbyville, Illinois and relocated with his family to the Beverly Hills community when he was seven; and
WHEREAS, following graduation from Morgan Park High School, Thomas H. Miner enlisted in the U.S. Army and was assigned to an infantry unit at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant after only four months in service; and
WHEREAS, Thomas H. Miner enrolled in West Point with the intention of studying engineering, but resigned after one year in order to pursue his college studies elsewhere; and
WHEREAS, Thomas H. Miner earned a Bachelor's Degree from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois before entering the University oflllinois Law School where he earned his J.D. in 1953; and
WHEREAS, in the 1950s Thomas H. Miner was employed by the Scott, McLeish & Falk law firm; the Continental Bank of Chicago; and two manufacturing firms, Harper-Wyman, and H.D. Hudson; and
WHEREAS, while managing 450 Harper-Wyman International employees and expanding the firm's footprint in Mexico City and South America, Thomas H. Miner formed a trading company with Russell Baker, founder of the Baker & McKenzie law firm; and
WHEREAS, with H.D. Hudson, a manufacturer of spraying equipment, Thomas H. Miner established a company presence in Europe and across the globe; and
WHEREAS, named one of Chicago's ten outstanding young men of 1962 by the Chicagoland Jaycees, he left H.D. Hudson in order to devote his energies to advancing his newly formed consulting firm, Thomas H. Miner & Associates; and
WHEREAS, at a time when American corporations had few viable options for advancing their interests overseas, Thomas H. Miner & Associates served as a conduit to connect Chicago-based firms with foreign governments, trade groups and heads of state as they established presence abroad; and
WHEREAS, Thomas H. Miner joined the International Trade Club, the Chicago Association of Commerce & Industry, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and other organizations to promote Chicago business interests at home and overseas; and
WHEREAS, working closely with Russell Baker, A. Robert Abboud ofthe First National Bank, and John Gallagher, Vice President of Sears International, Thomas H. Miner organized the Mid-America Committee for International Business and Government Cooperation in 1966 to provide the means and opportunity for heads of state, policy makers, and foreign dignitaries to visit Chicago for the purpose of addressing corporate decision makers and elected officials in a public forum; and
WHEREAS, the Mid-America Committee for International Business and Government Cooperation gained a reputation as the number one platform for analyzing international markets, cultivating overseas trade agreements and establishing Chicago's presence on the world stage nearly three decades before what is commonly known as the era of globalization commenced; and
WHEREAS, through the efforts of Thomas H. Miner and the Mid-America Committee for International Business and Government Cooperation Chicago has hosted receptions for four Mexican presidents, and an estimated 500 other foreign heads of state and diplomatic legations over a fifty-year period; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. State Department's Agency for International Development (AID), whose mission was to advance economic development and promote global trade in third world nations as a means of winning the Cold War, engaged Thomas II. Miner as a contractor a year after its formation in 1961; and
WHEREAS, in 1974 Thomas H. Miner led the first U.S. Trade Delegation to the People's Republic of China after President Richard Nixon "opened up" China to the West following his historic visit to Beijing in February 1972; and
WHEREAS, Thomas H. Miner led trade missions to foreign capitals across the world in Russia, Japan, Vietnam, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iran (post revolution); and
WHEREAS, in the service of his country Thomas H. Miner lent assistance and provided cover for Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) designates in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia; and
WHEREAS, in the mid-1970s, Thomas H. Miner acquired ownership of a South American emerald mine on behalf of American investors in the Muzo region of Colombia; and
WHEREAS, working with the Colombian government and local police in August 1975, Thomas H. Miner assisted in securing the release of a Sears Roebuck executive who had been kidnapped by a local crime cartel and held for ransom in Bogota; and
WHEREAS, Thomas H. Miner has been knighted by seven foreign governments; and
WHEREAS, Thomas H. Miner is responsible for the creation of 400,000 jobs in numerous countries spanning the globe; and
WHEREAS, Thomas H. Miner founded the U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce; the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce and held the honorary post of Consul of Senegal in the 1970s; and
WHEREAS, Thomas H. Miner has held a membership or served as an officer of fifty different civic, fraternal and business associations throughout his lifetime; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council do hereby thank Thomas H. Miner for promoting and advancing the economic interests of the City across international borders, and congratulate him on attaining hjs milestone ninetieth birthday on this twenty-eighth day of June 2017;
Edward M. B;
BE IT FUl(YHER RESOLVEBtthat/ copy of this resolution be presented to Thomas H. Miner.