Greenwich Library is thrilled to announce that Ray Dalio, founder and CIO mentor of Bridgewater Associates, is the recipient of this year’s Peterson Business Award.
The award will be presented by Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont at a special award dinner on April 4, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Greenwich, Connecticut. Individual tickets and tables for the event are available at greenwichlibrary.org/peterson.
Ray Dalio is a global macro investor who founded Bridgewater Associates out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City before moving to Connecticut, and ran it for most of its 47 years, building it into the fifth most important private company in the United States, according to Fortune magazine. His investment innovations (e.g., risk parity, alpha overlay, and All Weather) changed the way global institutions approach investing. He has been a valued macroeconomic advisor to many policymakers around the world. Because of the impact his thinking has had on global macroeconomic policies, he was named by TIME magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.”
Today, Dalio remains an investor and mentor at Bridgewater and serves on its board. He is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Principles: Life and Work (2017), Principles for Navigating Big Debt Crises (2018), and Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order (2021). Ray graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from C.W. Post College in 1971 and earned an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1973. He has been married to his wife Barbara for more than 40 years, with three sons and five grandchildren.
“We are delighted to honor Ray Dalio with the Greenwich Library Peterson Business Award,” said Greenwich Library Board of Trustees President Peggy Edersheim Kalb. “Ray exemplifies how dedication, hard work, and a truly global outlook can transform an industry and a community. His achievements in finance and his incredible philanthropic efforts around the world, and especially here in Greenwich, make him a perfect recipient of the Peterson Business Award.”
The Peterson Business Award was established in 1997 by Greenwich Library and the Peterson Foundation to recognize and honor an individual whose innovative thinking, leadership and sustained record of achievement has had a profound impact on the national and global economy, and whose words and deeds have demonstrated a commitment to intellectual freedom and open access to information.
Previous Peterson Business Award recipients have included some of the country’s most prominent corporate leaders: Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. (1997), former chairman and CEO of IBM; Sanford I. Weill (2000), former chairman of Citigroup; William B. Harrison, Jr. (2002), former chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase; Dr. Henry A. McKinnell Jr. (2004), former chairman and CEO of Pfizer Inc.; Thomas J. Neff (2006), chairman of Spencer Stuart; Indra Nooyi (2008), former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo; Peter T. Grauer (2010), chairman of Bloomberg L.P.; Robert K. Steel (2012), former New York City deputy mayor for Economic Development; Robert B. Goergen (2014), founder and executive chairman of Blyth, Inc.; Barry Sternlicht (2016), founder, chairman, and CEO of Starwood Capital Group; Lawrence R. Ricciardi (2018), president of the Board of Trustees at the Morgan Library & Museum, and senior advisor to Lazard Frères & Co., Jones Day, and IBM; Cliff Asness (2020), founder and chief investment officer of AQR Capital Management; and Chuck Royce (2022), chairman and portfolio manager at Royce & Associates.
The Peterson Business Award is named in honor of Clementine Lockwood Peterson, whose 1992 bequest of $25 million to Greenwich Library made possible a new 32,000 square-foot wing at the Greenwich Library.
Designed by renowned architect César Pelli, this wing contains expanded business and music collections. Mrs. Peterson’s gift was made in memory of her son, Jonathan, and her husband, J. Whitney Peterson. The Peterson Business Award was conceived to celebrate Mrs. Peterson’s extraordinary generosity and to recognize outstanding business leadership.
Governor Ned Lamont, who will be presenting the award to Ray Dalio, is in his second term as Governor of Connecticut. Governor Lamont is a graduate of Harvard College and has an MBA from Yale University. He launched his company, Campus Televideo, in 1984, taking on the large and established giants of the telecom industry, and grew the company to serve more than 400 of America’s largest college campuses and one million college students across the nation.
Before becoming governor, Governor Lamont served on both the Greenwich Board of Selectmen and the Board of Estimate and Taxation and spent four years as Chairman of the State Investment Advisory Council. He is a professor of political science and philosophy at Central Connecticut State University. Governor Lamont and his wife, Annie, have three children.
Co-chairs for 2024’s Peterson Dinner are Susan Bevan, Lawrence Codraro, and Sharon Phillips. For additional information on sponsorship or group tickets, please contact Lisa Mandel, Greenwich Library Development Director, at (203) 622-7957 or [email protected].
The Greenwich Library system consists of the Main Library and its Byram Shubert and Cos Cob branches. The mission of Greenwich Library is to provide exceptional resources, programs and services that promote the joy of lifelong learning and discovery, and to offer a welcoming place to gather and share experiences.
With 1,800 programs and events per year, the Library seeks to serve as the cultural and intellectual crossroads of the community. Greenwich Library’s circulation is among the highest of public libraries in Connecticut and has been named a five-star library by Library Journal for11 of the past 12 years for the high number of patron visits, circulation, use of public computers and program attendance. Greenwich Library is located at 101 West Putnam Avenue in Greenwich. Cos Cob Library is located at 5 Sinawoy Road in Cos Cob. Byram Shubert Library is located at 21 Mead Avenue in Greenwich. More information is available online at www.greenwichlibrary.org or by calling 203-622-7900.