Christopher Bancroft Burnham

Hon. Christopher Bancroft Burnham, also known as Chris, is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Global. Hon. Burnham co-founded Cambridge in January of 2013 after a distinguished career in government, diplomacy, banking, and private equity.

He currently serves as a Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). From 2006 to December 2012, Hon. Burnham was the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Deutsche Asset Management. In 2008, he co-founded Deutsche Bank’s direct private equity group, RREEF Capital Partners. Hon. Burnham was the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Deutsche Asset Management Inc. since November 15, 2006. He was a Global Co-Head of DB Climate Change Advisors, which he joined in early 2008.

Hon. Burnham is a globally recognized expert on the management of complex multi-billion dollar global organizations, and on corporate governance, having served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of State, and Chief Operating Officer of the United Nations. He was previously an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and the highest-ranking American in the U.N. Secretariat, reporting to U.N. Secretary General, Kofi Annan. He joined the U.N. after four years at the U.S. Department of State, where he served as (acting) Under Secretary of State for Management for Condoleezza Rice and Assistant Secretary of State for Resource Management and Chief Financial Officer of the State Department for Former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell.

Prior to the Department of State, Hon. Burnham was the Vice Chairman of PIMCO Funds Company and President and Chief Executive Officer of its equity management subsidiary, Columbus Circle Investors. Earlier, in 1994, he served as a Treasurer of the State of Connecticut. Prior to that, Hon. Burnham was a Corporate Finance Banker at Advest, focusing on health care, waste to energy, and recycling financings, and with Credit Suisse First Boston as an Energy Banker in the public power and corporate group. He was also elected to, and served three terms in, the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1987. Hon. Burnham also served 24 years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. In 1990, while at Credit Suisse First Boston, he volunteered for active duty and led one of the first infantry units to reach and liberate Kuwait City in February 1991.

Hon. Burnham has been lauded as a beacon of hope for international cooperation which Senator Fulbright championed in his lifetime, and he is a very distinguished individual in international affairs. Hon. Burnham earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration (M.P.A.) from Harvard University and a B.A. from Washington & Lee University.