Jon Huntsman timeline

June 21, 1937

Jon Meade Huntsman was born in Blackfoot, Idaho, to teacher Alonzo Blaine and homemaker Kathleen Robison Huntsman, who were poor throughout his young childhood. He considered his father abusive but credited his mother’s love with giving him the self-confidence to dream big.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon Huntsman and his brother Blaine in 1938.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon Huntsman with his family in 1948.

May 1955

Huntsman graduated from Palo Alto High. His family had moved between towns in Idaho and California as his father changed jobs and pursued additional education.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon Huntsman as a high school senior.

1959

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School. He had attended with the help of scholarships, by working — delivering flowers, waiting tables — and by joining the Naval ROTC, which paid $50 a month.

June 20, 1959

He married Karen Haight, whom he had fallen for in high school, in the Los Angeles LDS Temple.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon and Karen Huntsman were married in June 1959.

July 1959

Huntsman reported for a two-year tour of duty as a gunnery officer on the USS Calvert.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon Huntsman and his brother Blaine.

1960

Jon Meade Huntsman Jr., the first of the couple’s nine children, was born. He would become Utah’s governor and is now serving as U.S. ambassador to Russia.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon Huntsman cradles his son, Jon Huntsman, Jr., in this photo from 1960.

1961

Huntsman began working for Olson Brothers Inc., a California egg business owned by his wife’s relatives. He would rise from checking egg quality by hand to vice president of operations.

1963

A second son, Peter, was born. (Peter would eventually follow his father into the chemical business and is now Huntsman Corp.’s CEO and chairman of the board. Peter also is CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation.)

1963

Huntsman and a friend launched a side business — Continental Productions, a record company that sold nostalgic Christmas albums and would provide him most of his first million.

1964

Daughter Christena was born. (Now Christena Huntsman Durham, she serves on the board overseeing a $9 million trust started by her father to help the homeless and the Huntsman World Senior Games, an athletic competition for senior citizens held in St. George.)

1966

Daughter Kathleen was born. (She struggled with eating disorders as a young woman and later with drug use; she died April 20, 2010, after a cardiac arrest. Huntsman wrote in his biography that his children felt he was never the same after Kathleen’s death.)

1967

Huntsman began working as president of Dolco Packaging, a joint venture between Olson Brothers and Dow Chemical Co. Dolco worked with polystyrene, a new plastics polymer, and Huntsman oversaw its development of a lightweight egg carton.

1967

Son David was born. (David has served in several family corporate and foundation positions and is now LDS Church mission president in Washington, D.C.)

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon Huntsman, Sr., and his oldest son, Jon, Jr., in 1968 in Fillmore, Utah.

April 8, 1969

Huntsman’s mother died in his arms of breast cancer.

1969

Son Paul was born. (Today, Paul is CEO of Huntsman Family Investments and is the owner and publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune.)

1970

Huntsman jumped to government service, working in the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Before moving to Washington, D.C., he left Dolco and created Huntsman Container Corp. with his brother, Blaine, who got company operations underway.

1971

He was recruited to work in the White House as staff secretary to President Richard Nixon, controlling documents sent to and from the president and overseeing other West Wing operations. He left shortly before the Watergate scandal and was not implicated in crimes that led to Nixon’s resignation.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) The Huntsman family visits with President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office in 1971.

1971

Son James was born. (James worked at Huntsman Corp. for more than 20 years as he also pursued his interest in the film industry, and he now works in movie distribution and sales.)

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon Huntsman and his family pose with egg cartoons in this 1971 photo.

1972

Huntsman resigned from the White House after one year and focused on Huntsman Container Corp., moving its headquarters and his family to Salt Lake City in 1973. The company reached a new level of success after winning a contract to create a custom clamshell for McDonald’s Big Mac.

1972

Daughter Jennifer was born. (Today she helps oversee the Huntsman Education Awards, which honor and provide financial rewards to outstanding Utah teachers every year.)

1975

The Huntsmans’ youngest child, Mark, was born with special needs. Huntsman has described him as an active, cheerful force who is “the glue in our family.”

1976

Huntsman sold Huntsman Container Corp., in part over environmental liabilities related to clamshells, but remained CEO for four years.

1980-1983

Huntsman and wife Karen led the Washington, D.C. mission for the LDS Church. Near the end of his term, Huntsman began focusing on his new enterprise, Huntsman Chemical, later Huntsman Corp. During a polystyrene glut, he borrowed millions of dollars to buy manufacturing plants, a strategy that helped make him a billionaire when demand later surged.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon Huntsman sits at a table covered in documents before closing on a deal to buy a polystyrene plant from Shell Chemical in 1983.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) The Huntsman family visits with President Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office in 1983.

1987

Huntsman donated an unrestricted $5 million to the University of Utah, which named the U.’s basketball arena after him.

(Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Fans cheer during an NCAA tournament game at the Huntsman Center in 2006.

1988

Huntsman indicated he would run for governor in 1988, challenging GOP incumbent Gov. Norm Bangerter. But Huntsman stepped aside weeks later, refocusing on his growing business empire.

(Tribune file photo) Jon Huntsman and Norm Bangerter.

1990

Huntsman’s father died of prostate cancer. Huntsman was diagnosed with the same cancer in late 1991; he later had skin cancers.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon Huntsman meets Pope John Paul II in 1993.

1995

Huntsman announced his donation of $100 million to build the Huntsman Cancer Institute, kicked off with a $10 million gift two years earlier. The research center was dedicated in 1999.

1996

Huntsman was worth $2.5 billion, climbing from $450 million just six years earlier.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon Huntsman participates in the Olympic Torch relay in 2002.

2004

A new cancer hospital opened at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, supported by a $125 million gift from Huntsman. It reached full capacity quickly and an expansion opened in 2011.

2004

Huntsman Jr. ran for governor in Utah and won. He easily claimed re-election in 2008.

2005

Huntsman Corp. became a public company.

(Photo courtesy Huntsman family) Jon Huntsman rings the bell at the New York Stock Exchange in February 2005.

2006

Apollo Global Management expressed interest in buying Huntsman Corp., which had six units and $12 billion in annual sales. When Apollo lowered its initial price per share, Huntsman walked away and began selling less lucrative segments of its business.

2007

Apollo made a new offer and Huntsman Corp. agreed. But as the economy weakened, it attempted to back out, and both sides filed lawsuits. In the end, Apollo paid Huntsman Corp. $1 billion in cash and preferred notes. Banks that had worked with Apollo ended up paying $632 million in cash and providing $1.1 billion in loans at favorable rates, saving the company millions in interest.

2009

Huntsman watched with pride as President Barack Obama nominated Huntsman Jr. to be U.S. ambassador to China.

2010

Huntsman was one of the first billionaires to sign The Giving Pledge — agreeing to donate at least half of his wealth to good causes as part of an effort led by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates.

(Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) Karen and Jon Huntsman speak at the dedication of the Huntsman Cancer Institute Hospital expansion on October 28, 2011.

2011

Huntsman Jr. returned from China to announce his 2012 presidential campaign on his father’s birthday. He later dropped out of the race. In 2017, he became the U.S. ambassador to Russia, nominated by President Donald Trump.

2016

Huntsman helped his son, Paul, purchase The Salt Lake Tribune, because he believed the state needed a major newspaper not owned by the predominant LDS Church.

Spring 2017

U. president David Pershing unexpectedly fired Mary Beckerle, CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, setting off a “war” between the Huntsmans and U. leadership. Beckerle was rehired; Pershing and Vivian Lee, the senior vice president for health sciences, agreed to leave their posts; the U. agreed to pay the institute $68 million to clear up a funding dispute, and a new legal agreement was negotiated.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jon Huntsman comforts professor Jody Rosenblatt following the unexpected news that Mary Beckerle, acclaimed researcher at Hunstman Cancer Institute, was fired from her post as CEO and director.

May 2017

Huntsman contributed $25 million to the Utah State University’s Huntsman School of Business, building on his earlier $25 million gift. Huntsman also helped the school land a $25 million pledge from the Charles Koch Foundation.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jon Huntsman and family celebrate the new $50 million building in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business in 2016.

June 2017

The $116 million Primary Children's and Families' Research Center opened, funded by the Huntsman family, the LDS Church, Intermountain Healthcare and other donors. Huntsman recommitted to a previously announced additional donation of $120 million.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jon Huntsman Sr. speaks at a party to celebrate The Salt Lake Tribune's 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting.

December 2017

At the end of the year, Huntsman relinquished his title of executive chairman of Huntsman Corp. Peter Huntsman is now board chairman in addition to serving as CEO.

Feb. 2, 2018

At age 80, Huntsman “passed away peacefully today at 2 p.m. surrounded by a loving family, following long-term health challenges,” his family said in a statement. “He leaves an unparalleled legacy of good, from which generations will benefit.”