Allan H Selig

First elected to the Board of Directors in 1976, Allan H. (Bud) Selig has served as the commissioner of Baseball since July 9, 1998. Prior to his election as Commissioner, Selig served as chairman of the Executive Council of Major League Baseball for six years. He was the principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers prior to becoming commissioner. Elected the ninth Commissioner of Baseball on July 9, 1998 by a unanimous vote of the 30 Major League Baseball club owners. Selig was born on July 30, 1934 in Milwaukee and received a bachelor's degree in American History and Political Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1956. After serving two years in the armed forces, Selig returned to Milwaukee and began working in the automobile business with his father. A life-long baseball fan, Selig, while growing up, followed the old Milwaukee Brewers minor league team and the Chicago Cubs. He became a Braves fan when the National League franchise moved to Milwaukee from Boston in 1953. He subsequently became the team's largest public stockholder before selling his stock in 1965 when the team moved to Atlanta. Upon learning of the Braves' intended move to Atlanta, Selig founded "Teams, Inc." an organization dedicated to returning Major League Baseball to Milwaukee. The group, which later changed its name to "The Brewers," arranged for several Chicago White Sox games to be played in Milwaukee in 1968. After failing to purchase the White Sox in 1969, Selig's efforts were finally rewarded on April 1, 1970, when a Seattle bankruptcy court awarded the Seattle Pilots franchise to Selig and his investors. Selig is a member of the Board of Directors of the Green Bay Packers, Inc., Marcus Corporation and the Oil-Dri Corporation of America. He is also on the Board of Visitors for the Department of Political Science and the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin. Selig is a member of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, the Boys and Girls Clubs Board of Trustees, is a founder of Athletes for Youth and was instrumental in establishing the Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Fund. Bud and his wife, Sue, are very active in the Milwaukee community and were co-recipients of the "1990 Humanitarian Award" from the St. Francis Children's Center. They also lend their support and time to the Milwaukee Art Museum. In July of 2001, the Allan H. and Suzanne L. Selig Merit Scholarship Fund was established at the Rothberg International School at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.