API President and CEO

Jack N. Gerard is president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, the national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry.

Gerard brings a strong industry trade association background to API, as well as experience on Capitol Hill. He most recently served as president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, and earlier held the same title at the National Mining Association. He assumed his current duties at API on November 1, 2008.

During his three years at the Chemistry Council, the association fortified its advocacy initiatives on issues important to the chemicals industry and worked closely with Congress on major legislation. Gerard and the ACC were named among the "Best of K Street" in The Hill newspaper’s listing of top advocates.  Chemical News & Intelligence included Gerard among a dozen "leaders of the decade" for the chemical industry.  Six months after joining API, The Hill named Gerard a top trade group lobbyist who forcefully advocated for America's oil and natural gas industry.

Gerard also spent close to a decade working in the U.S. Senate and House. He came to Washington in 1981, and worked for Rep. George Hansen. He also worked for Sen. James A. McClure, who chaired the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Sen. McClure retired in 1990, and Gerard joined him in founding McClure, Gerard & Neuenschwander, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based government relations consulting firm. Gerard served as Chairman and Chief Executive officer and focused on issues such as international sports, telecommunications, energy and mining.

Gerard lives in Virginia with his wife, Claudette, and their eight children, including twin boys the family adopted from Guatemala.

He serves as a board member and is the immediate past Chairman of the National Capital Area Council - Boy Scouts of America, is co-chair of The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management’s Council on American Politics, is Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, and is a member of the Conservation Fund’s Corporate Council.

Gerard was born and grew up in Idaho. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Juris Doctor from George Washington University.

As the industry’s national trade association, API’s nearly 400 members range from the largest major oil company to the smallest of independents and represent all segments of the industry.