Richard Greco, Jr.

Richard Greco, Jr. was appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate as the United States 19th Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) and served from 2004 to 2007. In this role, Greco was the chief financial officer of the Department of the Navy, responsible for an annual budget of more than $130 billion and a financial management workforce of 9000 professionals, including budgeters, analysts, auditors, fiscal lawyers, Congressional relations officers, and financial operations personnel. He also served as chairman of the Department of the Navy audit committee, a member of the Acquisition Integrity Board, and the Executive Committee of the United States Naval Academy. For exceptional service Greco was twice awarded the Department of the Navy's Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest civilian medal awarded by the Navy. During his tenure as Assistant Secretary, Greco also served for two years as National President of the American Society of Military Comptrollers, an association of 18,000 financial professionals.

Following his retirement from government service, Richard Greco, Jr. was named as Managing Partner of the international merchant banking firm of Filangieri Capital Partners, whose clients and portfolio companies are in the aerospace and defense, homeland security, pharmaceuticals, medical software, intellectual property, financial data analytics, metal mechanics, and water & waste water treatment industries. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Quadrivio Investment Group based in Milan, Italy, with more than $1.2 billion of private equity assets under management. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to the international business strategy firm the Scowcroft Group, based in Washington, D.C., and to the fixed-income asset manager Muzinich & Co., based in New York City. In 2014, Greco was named Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Euro Mec Water Group, the parent company for Euro Mec Srl, a global water and waste water treatment company based in Mantua, Italy with a presence in more than thirty countries, including emerging markets in Africa, the Middle East, the Indian sub-continent, and Asia. Greco is also the founder and Chairman of the Board of the Montfort Academy, an award-winning classical curriculum high school in the Archdiocese of New York focused on academic excellence and character formation. He serves on the board of directors or board of trustees of many other civic and not-for-profit organizations.

Early life
Born in the Bronx and raised in Pelham Manor, NY Richard Greco, Jr. attended Prospect Hill Elementary School and Pelham Memorial High School. He was ranked first in his class at Pelham Memorial High School and attended Fordham University on a full academic Presidential scholarship. He studied Chemistry at Fordham and received a B.S. in 1991, graduating Summa cum laude, in cursu honorum and was class valedictorian. Later, he attended the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins University where he received an M.A. in international economics and American Foreign Policy. He also attended the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business where he was graduated with an M.B.A. in finance. During the time between college and graduate school Greco briefly attended medical school at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and was a high school teacher of physics, Italian, and Spanish.

Greco's first job after graduate school was as an associate at The Scowcroft Group in Washington, DC, where he advised investment fund managers and corporate executives about emerging markets, specifically in Africa, Asia, and the former Soviet Union. While at The Scowcroft Group, Greco assisted George H. W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft in editing A World Transformed, a book about the foreign policy of the United States in the post-Cold War era. In 1997, Greco joined the corporate finance advisory firm of Stern Stewart & Co and became a managing director. There, he oversaw Stern Stewart's expansion into Italy, with the joint venture of Ambrosetti Stern Stewart Italia. During this period, Greco became a regular lecturer at Bocconi University, the School of Management at the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli, and the Italian Association of Financial Analysts. He later became manager of Stern Stewart's Government Services Division.

The Montfort Academy
In 1998, during his time at Stern Stewart, Greco founded The Montfort Academy, a Catholic high school in Mount Vernon, New York offering a classical curriculum focussing on academic excellence and character formation, with courses such as civics, geography, astronomy, rhetoric and debate, Latin, Greek, philosophy, and religion. More than 500 students have attended The Montfort Academy's full-time and part-time programs, including the special Renaissance Invitational program. The Montfort Academy has a 100% college admissions rate and an 87th percentile average SAT score. For the years 2005-2009, and 2012-2013, The Montfort Academy was named one of the best 50 Catholic high schools in America by the Cardinal Newman Society. The Montfort Academy's distinguished lecture series has featured notable persons such as former Senator Rick Santorum (a candidate in the 2012 primary season for President of the United States), former New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir, and former Vice Chairman of Goldmas Sachs Robert Hormats, now serving as Under Secretary of State. Greco served as Chairman of the Board of The Montfort Academy from 1998-2010 and now is Chairman emeritus and trustee.

United States Government Service
In June 2002, Greco was appointed by the President of the United States as a White House Fellow. He was assigned by the White House as a special assistant to the Secretary of Defense. During this fellowship year, he spent six weeks in Baghdad as an advisor in the Coalition Provisional Authority, providing advice on private sector and financial markets development, foreign direct investment, and currency exchange. When his fellowship was over, Greco was appointed Acting Director of Private Sector Development for Iraq, and in this capacity was a liaison between the international private sector and the Coalition Provisional Authority. On September 10, 2004, President of the United States George W. Bush nominated Greco as Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller). After confirmation by the United States Senate, Greco served as the chief financial officer of the Department of the Navy from October 26, 2004 until 2007. During Greco's tenure as Assistant Secretary, the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps remained actively engaged in Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and elsewhere in the Global War on Terror. In addition, the Navy and Marine Corps responded to the earthquake and tsunami in southeast Asia, the earthquake in Pakistan and India, and Hurricane Katrina. Greco helped the Department of the Navy incorporate best practices in corporate governance and link together financial, business, and information systems. Also during his tenure, Greco presented to Congress and inaugurated a long-term Financial Improvement, established the first-ever Audit Committee, developed a financial efficiency index, a "just-in-time" cash management system, a portfolio analysis capability based on private sector analytical techniques, and a recruiting and retention program for the financial management workforce. During his tenure the Department also advanced its Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness effort and its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) initiative.

Post-government
Upon his retirement from government service in 2007, Greco was named President and Managing Partner of Filangieri Capital Partners, a New York firm making private equity and venture capital investments and offering corporate finance and strategic advisory services. Also in 2007 Greco was elected to the Board of Directors of Mediware Information Systems (NASDAQ: MEDW), a publicly traded medical software company. In 2008 Greco was elected to the Board of Directors of Finmeccanica SpA (MILAN: FNC), a publicly traded global aerospace, defense, and energy company with $25 billion in revenues. In addition, Greco serves on the boards of directors of several privately held companies and a global private equity investment group with more than $1.4 billion in assets under management. Greco is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Morgan Stanley Journal of Applied Corporate Finance. In 2011 Greco was named as a monthly contributor to Longitude, the international journal of foreign affairs and international business. In 2012 he was appointed to the Board of Advisors of the Marconi University Graduate School of Business in Rome, Italy, where he also holds the rank of Professor of Business Administration and Political Economy. He is also a Senior Advisor at The Scowcroft Group, a business advisory firm assisting companies in emerging markets founded and managed by General Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor of the United States. Richard Greco, Jr. is the Vice Chairman of the Board and head of Investor Relations of Euro Mec Water Group, a global water treatment and purification company with installed treatment plants in more than thirty countries. He also is the Chief Executive Officer of Euro Mec's global concession and North American businesses. In 2014 Greco was elected to the Board of Directors of AnalytixInsight, a publicly traded company offering comprehensive fundamental equity analysis on over 40,000 global companies, under the trade-names Capital Cube and Stockwall, now available on all Samsung mobile devices.

Civic Life
Richard Greco, Jr. is very active in civic causes, especially education, the art and sciences, environmental conservation, and foreign policy. He serves on the Board of Trustees of The Montfort Academy, the Board of Advisors of the New York Council of the United States Navy League, he has served as an advisory board member of the Boy Scouts of America Westchester Putnam Council, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hudson River Museum and Planetarium in Yonkers, New York. He is also a member of the Westchester County Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Board. From 2007 to 2008 he served as a Trustee of the Yonkers Board of Education. He is life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Distinctions and Awards
Among Greco's distinctions are The Department of the Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award, Knighthood of the Italian Republic bestowed by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Italy, The Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Knighthood of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Filippo Mazzei Award for Public Service. On April 25, 2012 Greco was awarded the United States Navy League's Meritorious Service Award at a ceremony and dinner at New York City's Waldorf=Astoria Hotel.

Personal
In 1998 Greco married Marla DeGaetano. They have six children and reside in Westchester County, New York.

Publications
• China—Economics Before Politics, A Lesson for the Next President, "Longitude", June 2012.

•      SPACS—A No Brainer, "Longitude", May 2012.

•      Follow the Yellow Brick Road. . . to Utah: The Return of the Gold Standard, Longitude, March 2012.

•      Serving God and neighbor, Longitude, January 2012.

•      The Linchpin of Stability:  The modern relationship between Italy and the United States, Longitude, December 2011.

•      The Future of Libya Can Be Found in Alaska, Longitude, October 2011.

• Debt was the Price of Liberty—Implications of Deficit Reduction for the Defense Industry, Longitude, September 2011.

• Pakistan: Failed State, Rogue State, Friend, and Foe, Longitude, August 2011.

• Exit from Afghanistan: Strategy over Schedule, Longitude, July 2011.

• Letters from the National President, Armed Forces Comptroller, the quarterly magazine of the American Society of Military Comptrollers, Contributed to six quarterly editions, 2005-2006.

• Italy-US: the Strength of Their Relationship. America Oggi. October 12, 2003.

• Military Compensation – The Case for a More Flexible System. EVAluation Report. April 2001.

• National Performance Review – A Step in the Right Direction. EVAluation Report. July 2000.

• The Creation of Value in the Italian Banking System. Financial Analysis. June 2000.

• Best Practices in Valuation Methodology and Estimation of Cost of Capital among Italian Financial Analysts. Journal of the Association of Italian Financial Analysts. October 1999.

• Estimation of the Market Risk Premium: Evidence from the United States Market. October 1999.

• The Strength of EVA for the Public Sector. Il Sole 24 Ore. October 6, 1998. (with Fabio Fedel)

• The Operationalization of Economic Value Added in the Firm. Journal of the Association of Italian Financial Analysts. October 1998.

• Turkey at the Crossroads. White House Weekly. Vol. 17(27) 1996. (with Arnold Kanter).

• The Markets Bet on Italy: So Do We. International Political Economy. Vol. 3(9) 1996. (with Marvin Zonis).

• The Markets are Making a Smart Bet on Italy. Economic Times (The Conference Board). Vol. 7(6) 1996.

• Proceedings of the 1991 International Meeting of the Electrophoresis Society. Isolation of Metallothionein from Cadmium-contaminated Isopods. Richard Greco, Donald Clarke, Grace Vernon, & Ruth Witkus. 1991.

• Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in Primary Consumers. Vernon G., Greco R., Heisey R., Gonazalez G. & Witkus R. 1990.

• Proceedings of the 47th Annual Meeting of the Electron Microscopy Society of America. Localization of Heavy Metals in the Hepatopancreas of the Terrestrial Isopod Oniscus asellus. Vernon G., Greco R., & Witkus R. 1989.