Born, raised, and educated in Boston, Mr. Matthews is a graduate of Northeastern University where he is Chairman Emeritus of the Governing Boards. He has been the founder and chief executive of numerous companies, and has been Chairman of GFNA since he founded it with President Gorbachev in 1997.

President Mikhail Gorbachev, Kathleen Matthews, Raisa Gorbachev and Chairman George J. Matthews

Born, raised, and educated in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, George is a graduate of Northeastern University, Boston. In 1978, George was elected to Northeastern’s Board of Trustees. Subsequently, he was elected Vice Chairman of the Board and in 1989 was elected as the Board’s Chairman; a position he held for ten years. The University has honored George with its highest honor-an Honorary Doctorate. Presently, George serves as the University’s most senior advisor to the present Board’s Chairman and the University’s President with the title of Chairman Emeritus. The University’s most prestigious faculty and student awards, the Matthews’ Distinguished Professors and Scholars awards, were named for Mr. Matthews and his wife, Kathleen Waters Matthews. Elected to Northeastern’s Athletic Hall of Fame, Northeastern’s largest athletic facility, The Matthews Arena, was named in George’s honor. A well-known entrepreneur, George has been instrumental in the founding of over thirty business ventures. A founder of the United States Football League, George was the owner of the Boston Breakers Football Club. Presently, George is Managing Director of Hickory Hill Advisors, LLC, a venture capital firm and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Collegiate Enterprise Solutions, LLC. (CES), a full service provider to the field of higher education. Also, George is Chairman of the Gorbachev Foundation of North America, which he founded with the former President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail S. Gorbachev. He is also an Executive Committee Member of the Club of Madrid, a resource center for democracy. A past President of the Clover Club of Boston, George is a member of the St. Botolph Club of Boston, and the Commercial Club of Boston. In 1998, George was a recipient of the highest honor of the Les Amis d’Escoffier Society of Boston. The Vatican State has honored Mr. Matthews with a knighthood-Knight Commander with Star of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, the oldest order of chivalry of the Vatican State, founded in 1099. Married with four children and eight grandchildren, Mr. Matthews resides with his wife, Kathleen Waters Matthews in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, USA.