Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Heir to the Oreck vacuum-cleaning fortune, Bruce Oreck was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to Finland August 12, 2009. His experiences have run the gamut from tax attorney to body building to major player in Democratic Party politics. Having contributed thousands of dollars of his own money to campaigns, Oreck also has helped raise even more cash from others for candidates, including President Barack Obama.
Son of David Oreck, founder of the Oreck Corporation, Bruce Oreck grew up with an active outdoors and sports life, collecting minerals as a boy and fighting in boxing matches in high school. He was later a member of the championship fencing team at Johns Hopkins University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1975. His graduate studies were conducted at Louisiana State University (Juris Doctorate) and New York University (Masters of Law in taxation).
Oreck joined the New Orleans law firm of Liskow & Lewis in 1981, where he made partner while working as a tax attorney representing the oil and gas industry. He left in 1992 to form his own firm, Oreck, Crighton, Adams & Chase, which represented Fortune 100 companies in connection with state and local tax issues. This included helping Dow Chemical and other companies get $85 million from the state of Louisiana after a tax on corporate dividends was declared unconstitutional by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
While running his own firm, Oreck also served as vice president and general counsel for his family business, The Oreck Corporation, from 1993 until the company was sold in 2003.
He has also run his own real estate development company focused on historic restorations. The business has renovated and restored more than 100,000 square feet of historic homes and apartment buildings in New Orleans.
Oreck’s other interests include founding the Zero Carbon Initiative to promote environmentally-friendly homes, and serving as a founding member of the board of trustees for the Grand Canyon Trust. In addition, he served as a member of Colorado Governor Bill Ritter’s New Energy transition advisory team and as a member of the Colorado Climate Action Panel.
In possession of one of the leading collections of fine minerals in the United States, Oreck and his wife, Charlotte, are major donors of mineral specimens to museums throughout America. Their financial contributions have gone to both the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum collections.
Oreck became a supporter of Obama’s during the early days of the presidential primary contest. He eventually served on Obama’s national finance committee, and according to OpenSecrets.org, bundled at least $500,000 to the Democratic nominee’s campaign. Also, Oreck and his wife bundled $75,000 for the president’s inauguration.
Aside from his backing of Obama, Oreck has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates, including large chunks ($28,500, $25,000, and $15,000) to campaign committees supporting U.S. Senate and House races.
His involvement in politics also includes being a founding member of the Colorado Democracy Alliance, a coordinating council for left-leaning organizations.
Oreck’s enthusiasm for the outdoors has resulted in his camping all over America, throughout Europe and much of East Africa. He also worked as a boatman rowing wooden dories down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon for nearly ten years. His interest in athletics broadened to include body building, and he won the Colorado state men’s masters body-building championship several years in a row.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Bruce J. Oreck Biography (U.S. Department of State)
Comments