Occupation: Chairman and chief executive of FreeMarkets Inc.
Education: Bachelor's degree in government, Harvard College; MBA, Harvard Business School.
Background: Meakem was a manager at General Electric before he co-founded FreeMarkets in 1997. He also held managerial roles at McKinsey & Company and at Kraft-General Foods. He is a former Officer with the Army Reserves and is a veteran of the Gulf War.
Noteworthy: Elected to serve as chairman of the board of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, beginning in January. The society is overseeing the 50,000-square-foot expansion of the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center that will include a Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit Gallery, the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, a study collections gallery and a new education center.
Quote: "I'm excited about the expansion. It's our little piece of the Smithsonian, right here in Pittsburgh. I am a lifelong student of history. School kids ask: Why should we study history, a bunch of old stuff⢠But you cannot plot a successful future for a country, for a city, for a state or for an individual unless you understand the lessons of the past."
