[28] Education-related philanthropy included the Richard M. and Helen DeVos Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Grand Valley State University,[29] the Richard and Helen DeVos Fieldhouse at Hope College[30] and the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Arts and Worship at Grand Rapids Christian Schools. Daniel was born in 1959 and is a businessman and sports executive. [58], On November 23, 2016, Trump's transition team announced DeVos as the nominee to be the next secretary of education. Richard worked on his family's farm from a young age. [92], In mid-May 2018, The New York Times reported that under DeVos, the size of the team investigating abuses and fraud by for-profit colleges was reduced from about twelve members under the Obama administration to three, with their task also being scaled back to "processing student loan forgiveness applications and looking at smaller compliance cases". While Dan is a sports executive and an entrepreneur, Doug is the Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors at Amway along with Steve Van Andel. In other polls, the two candidates were "in a dead heat," and, to some observers' surprise, DeVos was leading "4840 among union households." "I . [11] He became interested in the team after an unsuccessful effort to acquire a Major League Baseball expansion franchise for Orlando. The DeVos children include Andrea DeVos . DeVos is survived by his four adult children: Suzanne "Cheri" DeVos, Richard "Dick," Daniel G. and Douglas L. DeVos. [1] Betsy was a founding board member of the James Madison Center for Free Speech which the DeVos family funded and whose "sole goal was to end all legal restrictions on money in politics. [27] Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, called DeVos "the most ideological, anti-public education nominee" since the position became a cabinet position. [93], In October 2018, it was announced that DeVos's chief of staff, Josh Venable, would be replaced by Nate Bailey, who at that time was DeVos's chief of communications. He is also the majority owner of AHLs Grand Rapids Griffins. Elisabeth Dee DeVos (/dvs/ d-VOSS; ne Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021. 24 on its 2015 list of America's top givers. Please try again. He was 92. She grew up in Holland, Michigan, the eldest of four children born to Elsa (Zwiep) Prince (later, Broekhuizen) and Edgar Prince, a billionaire industrialist. Richard Marvin DeVos Jr. (born October 21, 1955) is an American businessman and author. The Times article noted that the Devos family had given over $1 million to the Michigan GOP in 2012 and at least $2 million to a successful effort to defeat a proposal for a pro-union constitutional amendment. [178], DeVos has been an advocate for the Detroit charter school system. DeVos and his wife became co-chairs of the Education Freedom Fund in 1993. [112] Asked by CBS 60 Minutes reporter Lesley Stahl about her repeal of Obama administration guidelines for colleges dealing with reports of sexual assaults, she said her concern was for men falsely accused of such assaults. Under his leadership, the company opened numerous new markets and tripled foreign sales to exceed domestic sales for the first time in company history. Being the ardent sports enthusiast that he was, Richard owned several hockey franchises (before the hockey league got scrapped). He had also received endorsements from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Farm Bureau.[26]. We have the lowest personal income growth, the lowest business start-ups in the country. [140], The Dick & Betsy DeVos Family Foundation was launched in 1989. The Foundation supports strategic projects and initiatives that impact the community, empower individuals to reach their full potential, and catalyze change. [124][125][126], Subsequent to the incident, the U.S. The key to untangling DeVos empire appears to lie in Securities and Exchange Commission filings from the late 1990s and early 2000s, when Amways Asia-Pacific business operated through a publicly traded subsidiary. [49][50], Betsy and her husband Dick are chief investors in and board members of Neurocore, a group of brain performance centers offering biofeedback therapy for disorders such as depression, attention deficit disorder, autism, and anxiety. It was within a year of his wifes demise on 18 October 2017. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/richard-devos-49671.php. Downtown condos are selling for long-ago prices. "We want to help develop human capital and leverage that capital to the greatest extent possible", she said, describing Kaiser's "practice and approach" as "practical, realistic and creative". [25], He co-founded the Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation, an American conservative foundation and grant-making body in 1970. [177], During the 1990s, she served on the boards of Children First America and the American Education Reform Council, which sought to expand school choice through vouchers and tax credits. [153][154], DeVos has served as chairperson, board member, and treasurer of the Acton Institute and headed the All Children Matter PAC. Another entity, Windquest Group, manages Dick and Betsys personal investments from a few blocks away. DeVos and her husband founded it in 1989. [175], DeVos was chair of the American Federation for Children (AFC). [157] The DeVoses' gift, part of which would be spent on arts groups in Michigan that had been hit hard by the recession, was the largest private donation in the Kennedy Center's history. Beloved husband of the late Berneita Ann (nee Heyman). [19], On June 2, 2005, at Mackinac Island, DeVos announced his candidacy for governor of Michigan. DeVos cited Indiana (which has the U.S.'s largest school voucher program) as a potential model for a nationwide policy, but did not give specific proposals. We are the only state that has not moved to positive ground when it comes to actual numbers of jobs in the marketplace," he said. Those documents indicate that Betsys husband Dick DeVos and his three siblings had equal interests in the subsidiary, an indication that they equally split their ownership of the rest of Amway. [152] During her tenure, she reportedly donated $431,000 to the church between 2002 and 2004 and $453,349 to Flannel, producer of the NOOMA video series. [16], On November 23, 2016, then-President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate DeVos to serve as Secretary of Education in his administration. In response, AFT noted that in the same survey of around 5,000 educators, 86% felt that Devos had disrespected them. "[4], In a talk given in Washington, D.C., in January 2013, under the auspices of the Heritage Foundation, DeVos discussed the passage of so-called "Right to Work" legislation in Michigan. After conducting "a feasibility and economic-impact analysis," DeVos worked with two local bankers to set the plan in motion. Apart from this, she is known for being a social activist and supporting the Republican Party along with her husband. Associated Press. The article noted that debates between DeVos and Granholm had "done little to help either's cause, though they did have an effect on the polls," with support for both candidates dropping and the number of undecided voters increasing. [8] In 1975, DeVos published a book about his success, co-authored with Charles Paul Conn, titled Believe!. In September 2010, the Spectrum Health Foundation presented DeVos with its Art of Giving Award at its annual celebration of philanthropy. In the 2000s, the DeVos family bankrolled school-voucher campaigns and charter school efforts throughout the country. DeVos also appointed Julian Schmoke as the team's new supervisor; Schmoke was a former dean of DeVry Education Group, which was one of the institutions the team had been investigating. Its how the DeVos family climbed from the working-class Dutch neighborhoods of Grand Rapids to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in American life, with the current secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, among its members. [5] Donations [ edit] "[1], She also wrote (in Roll Call) that she expected results from her political contributions. Rich DeVos and Jay Van Andel were two friends who shared a similar goal and ambition: they wanted more out of life for themselves, their families, and their friends. "[22], In an interview given during the campaign, DeVos said: "It's all about jobs. On November 7, 2006, DeVos was defeated by Democratic incumbent Jennifer Granholm by a 14-point margin. She has served as chair of the board of the Alliance for School Choice and the Acton Institute and headed the All Children Matter PAC. In all, she has disclosed that her share of these outside holdingswhich do not include Amway or the Magicare worth at least $335 million. His grandparents were Dutch immigrants. [26][160] Rick works for the Windquest Group[193] as a consultant on urban development, and is the founder of Grand Rapids' ArtPrize festival. "[7], DeVos received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Northwood University. We knew this was going to be an important part of our future, but also an opportunity." "DeVos said she was thinking about the couple's interest in education and her husband Dick's love of flying. [184] In the same month, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon parodied the Education Department's typos on Twitter, featuring Jo Firestone as DeVos. Dick DeVos ran the company from 1993 to 2002. Along with the company Chairman Steve Van Andel, Doug DeVos oversees its daily operations. [62][63] Republican senator Ben Sasse said DeVos "has made a career out of standing up to powerful and connected special interests on behalf of poor kids who are too often forgotten by Washington". Suite 3200 [123], DeVos has been a controversial figure throughout her tenure. Staying current is easy with Crain's news delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge. In 1982, during a recession in the middle of Reagans first term, DeVos, always one to speak his mind, told an assembled group of Republican bigwigs that this recession has been a beneficial thing and a cleansing thing for society. As the RNC attempted to court support from organized labor, their efforts were undercut by their own finance chair, who called unions a negative wind and said that they had no place in the Republican Party: If they want to be represented by somebody else, good for them.. [20] As of October 27, 2006, the DeVos campaign had spent $39 million, of which nearly $35 million was DeVos's own money. In that fiscal year, Alticor reported sales of $4.5 billion, primarily through its more than 3.5 million part-time sales force and its complementary e-commerce channel. In the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Detroit had the lowest reading and mathematics scores "by far" over any city participating in the evaluation. They bought a lot there in 1997 and bought another one later. During the Great Depression, he sold freshly farmed vegetables door to door in Grand Rapids, Michigan. [105][106], On September 12, 2018, DeVos lost the lawsuit brought by 19 states and the District of Columbia, which accused the Department of Education of improperly delaying implementation of regulations protecting student loan borrowers from predatory practices. When the Children's Scholarship Fund provided $7.5 million to the Education Freedom Fund, the DeVos matched the grant, and their foundation covers all of the administrative costs of the organization. The actual total may be considerably higher, as permits typically don't include such costs as kitchen cabinets and decorative finishes. The Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation has supported ArtPrize, an art competition in Grand Rapids, since 2009. [64], The confirmation hearing for DeVos was initially scheduled for January 10, 2017, but was delayed for one week after the Office of Government Ethics requested more time to review her financial disclosures. Click below to see everything we have to offer. [59], Former presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney respectively called DeVos an "outstanding pick" and a "smart choice". "Freedom to Work was simply the right thing to do," he said. Get the best business coverage in Chicago, from breaking news to razor-sharp analysis, in print and online. They went on to create different corporations like Amway Services, Amway Sales, and Amway Manufacturing to cater to the various needs of the company, which ultimately merged into one entity; the Amway Corporation in 1964. [24], He died at his home in Ada, Michigan on September 6, 2018, at the age of 92.[9][33]. Doug was born in 1964 and is a businessman and President of Amway since 2002. [24], DeVos was a long-time close friend of Gerald and Betty Ford, and was an honorary pallbearer at Gerald Ford's state funeral. Wrong username or password. Meanwhile, Amway had bought Nutrilites controlling shares in 1972 and full ownership of the company by 1994. 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