Markell, Jack Alan, 1960-

Jack Alan Markell (born November 26, 1960) is an American businessman and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as state Treasurer of Delaware from 1999 to 2009 and as the 73rd governor of Delaware from 2009 to 2017.

Born and raised in Newark, Delaware, he graduated from Newark High School there before earning a B.A. from Brown University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Markell began his business career in 1982, working as a banker at First Chicago Corporation. He then became a consultant at McKinsey & Company in 1986. Markell joined Fleet Call – later known as Nextel Communications (a name that Markell coined) – where he served as the Senior Vice President for Corporate Development from 1989 to 1995. Becoming the company's 13th employee, Markell joined Nextel when the company was in a nascent stage; helping lead Nextel to nationwide success during the wireless telecommunications revolution of the 1990s. After leaving Nextel, Markell worked as a senior manager at Comcast Corporation from 1996 to 1998.

Markell was first elected State Treasurer of Delaware in 1998, unseating four-term Republican incumbent Janet C. Rzewnicki, and was re-elected in 2002 and 2006. As treasurer, Markell led the development of several educational efforts in personal financial management, known collectively as "the Financial Literacy initiatives". He created the "Delaware Money School", which offers free classes to Delaware residents on topics such as saving for college and retirement planning. He also started the "Delaware Bank at School Program" which takes banks and financial education to schools. He partnered with the University of Delaware, Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship, as well as several Delaware banks, to teach young people the basics of money and savings.

In 2008, Markell defeated Lieutenant Governor John Carney to win the Democratic nomination for Governor of Delaware and went on to defeat former judge William Swain Lee in the general election.During his tenure, Delaware emerged from the great recession with the strongest job growth in the region and among the best private sector wage growth in the country. Mr. Markell led significant investments in improved early childhood education, language immersion programs, heightened college access for low-income students and some of the most aggressive workforce development efforts in the country. He was re-elected in 2012 by a margin of over 40 percent.

On June 23, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Markell to serve as the United States Ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Markell has yet to assume the office.