Centre Associate of the Year 2011
JAMES B. METZGER
Some of Centre’s best friends are people whose relationship with the College began when one of their children applied for admission. While dutiful parents tend to take an active interest in the College during the time their child is enrolled, some few remain as engaged with Centre and as interested in and supportive of its work and mission after their child has graduated as they were before. Such is the case with our Centre Associate of the Year for 2011.
James B. Metzger was born in New York but spent much of his youth in South America, where his father rose through the ranks to become president of Standard Oil Company of New Jersey in Argentina. Mr. Metzger returned to the States to attend The Choate School, Cornell University, and Columbia Graduate Business School, from which he received his academic degrees.
In his career, he has been both a successful businessman and a public servant. After a stint on Wall Street, he directed his focus to representing Spanish companies and government agencies in the United States. In this role, he became vice president of the company that set up the U.S. Agency of Banco de Bilbao and which represented Iberia Airlines and various other organizations. Subsequently, he became the Director of Banco de Bilbao in the U.S. and its Cayman Islands branch. He also has worked with the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce facilitating business relationships between the two countries. Additionally, he has represented Sodiga, a business development agency for the Province of Galicia, and has maintained contact with the Spanish community through his membership in Spain Ten, a group of professionals representing the fields of medicine, business, diplomacy, and academia in issues relating to Spain and U.S. economic and political matters.
As a public servant, Mr. Metzger held several U.S. Government positions during the Nixon Administration, including Assistant Director, Office of Foreign Direct Investments in the Commerce Department; Special Advisor to the Office of Policy Development, also in the Commerce Department; and Special Advisor to OPIC on matters relating to business development in Central America.
In addition to the schools from which he received degrees, Mr. Metzger is affiliated with other leading academic institutions. He is a member of the Dean’s International Council and the Visiting Committee of the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago and the Dean’s Council of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Also, he is a former member of the Board of Directors of the New Cities Institute, a subsidiary of the Kentucky League of Cities; and is presently a trustee of the Future Generations Graduate School in West Virginia.
He and his wife, Agnes, have two children: Elizabeth, a student at Brown University, and Jimmy, a member of Centre’s Class of 2004 and the University of Kentucky College of Law’s Class of 2009.
In grateful recognition of his leadership in global commerce, service to the government of the United States, and commitment to Centre College, we are pleased to recognize James B. Metzger as Centre Associate of the Year for 2011.
