After receiving a bachelor's degree in history and political science from Stanford University and a master of science in journalism from Columbia University, Clarke Swanson began his business career in banking andparlayed it into a successful media career specializing in radio, cable TV and community newspapers. A bushy—eyed and dapperly dressed entrepreneur, he married his wife, Elizabeth, in 1969 and raised their threedaughters, Alexis, Veronica and Claiborne, in Naples, Florida, until the family moved to Napa Valley in 1985 to begin Swanson Vineyards. Beyond celebrating his love for family, Clarke Swanson is busy with various professional and civic pursuits. He was the principal shareholder, chairman and CEO of Napa National Bancorp until it sold. He is a former director of the Napa Valley Vintners Association, director and former chairman of the Oakville Winegrowers Association, director and vice president of the Friends of Lincoln Theater Performing Arts Center (Napa Valley), director of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Foundation, and overseer at the Hoover Institution (Stanford University).