Jacques Maisonrouge

Who was Jacques Maisonrouge?

Jacques Gaston Maisonrouge was a French businessman who became chairman of IBM World Trade Corporation. He was born in 1924 at Cachan to Paul and Suzanne Maisonrouge. He graduated from the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, Paris. He married Francoise Féron in 1948; they had five children.

His career with IBM, which spanned 36 years from 1948 to 1984, included four postings to the USA. Maisonrouge was nominated Vice President IBM World Trade Division in 1962; President of IBM World Trade Corporation in 1967; CEO in 1973, and Chairman in 1976. He was elected a Board Member of IBM Corporation in 1983, before retiring in 1984; he was also elected to the boards of Air Liquide, Moët-Hennesy and Philip Morris.

Following retirement, he served the French public sector as Director General of Industry, a ministerial position, in 1986 by the French government and, subsequently, Chairman of French International Trade Development Agency, then known as CFCE, Centre Français du Commerce Extérieur.

He was active in improving French-American relations, particularly through his chairmanship from 1989 of the Senate Committee for the Image of France abroad, and in promoting world peace through world trade. In 1989 he published his book Inside IBM: A Personal Story. His voluntary work included the Chairmanship of his alma mater, the Ecole Centrale, the Chairmanship of the Board of Governors of the American Hospital of Paris and the Chairmanship of the Association France-United States in Paris.