George Gund(1937-2013)
- Producer
- Actor
George Gund III, a Cleveland native living in San Francisco, has
brought more than 22 years of National Hockey League ownership
experience and a lifetime of enthusiasm for amateur and professional
sports (particularly ice hockey) to the San Jose Sharks. On June 10,
1999, Gund was awarded the prestigious 1999 Jofa Titan/USA Hockey
Distinguished Achievement Award. He also captured the 1996 Lester
Patrick Award for his outstanding contributions and efforts on behalf
of amateur and professional hockey. Gund and the Sharks were also
honored as retail entrepreneur of the year by local businesses in San
Jose by the San Jose Business Journal in 1996. With his brother Gordon,
a minority owner of the San Jose Sharks, he co-owns the Cleveland
Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. His love of hockey
began on a neighborhood pond outside of Cleveland, was refined at
eastern boarding schools and culminated at Case Western Reserve
University where, as a student, he organized the school's first ice
hockey team. He has played for the Cleveland Falcons, Sun Valley Suns
and other city league teams in San Francisco and Seattle. He was
instrumental in building an indoor rink in Sun Valley and starting
senior, junior and women's ice hockey programs. He is a supporter of
the U.S. Winter Olympic efforts, serving on the Hockey Committee of the
U.S. Olympic Team and has been a sponsor of the U.S. Luge and U.S.
Skiing & Snowboarding Teams. He is a member of the International
Council of USA Hockey, a trustee of the USA Hockey Foundation, a member
of the National Hockey League's expansion committee and past chairman
and current trustee of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Part of a family
distinguished for its wide-ranging philanthropy, Gund is a trustee of
the George Gund Foundation, a Cleveland-based organization created by
his father in 1952 known for its support of innovative community and
national programs and organizations. He is a trustee of the Menninger
Foundation in Topeka, Kansas, and is a trustee of the University of
Nevada, Reno (UNR) Foundation. In 1996, Gund was conferred an Honorary
Doctorate in Humane Letters from that institution. He is a board member
and member of the International Founders' Council of the National
Museum of the American Indian. He is a trustee of the Musical Arts
Foundation (Cleveland Orchestra), chairman of the National Advisory
Board of the Western Folklife Center in Elko, Nevada (produces Cowboy
Poetry Festival and other folklore events), a member of KQED's Signal
Society and is a member of the Sierra Club National Advisory Board.
Since the 1970's, Gund has been importing and distributing Eastern
European films and encouraging independent film production in the
United States. He is active in several international film festivals, as
long-time chair of the San Francisco Film Society, which produces the
San Francisco International Film Festival, a founder of the Cleveland
Cinematique, and a long-time board member of the Cleveland Film
Festival. He is a trustee of the University of California Art Museum at
Berkeley and it's Pacific Film Archive, a director of the Sundance
Institute, and a former member of the Ohio Film Bureau. He is a member
of the Film Committee of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and past
director of the Museum's Anthology Film Archive. He has served as a
juror at the Moscow and Istanbul International Film Festivals, as well
as at numerous other film festivals and institutions throughout the
world. He is an avid art collector, with his collections concentrating
on Japanese, Western and Northwest Coast Indian Art. He is a trustee of
the Gund Collection of Western Art, a collection of 60 works portraying
the American West from 1830-1930. He is also a member of the
International Council of the Museum of Modern Art, New York and Board
Member and Trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Art. His business
interests include serving as past director of AmeriTrust Bank in
Cleveland, past director of Redwood Bank, past vice-chairman of the
Gund Investment Corp., founding partner and chairman of the Rusty
Scupper restaurant chain. He is currently owner and developer of a
retirement complex in Port Angeles, Washington, and vice chairman of
Nationwide Advertising Service (formerly Gund Business Enterprises,
Inc.) in Cleveland. Past sports-related business ventures include
acting as partner with the California Seals hockey team, president of
the Cleveland Barons hockey team and chairman of the Minnesota North
Stars hockey team.