John J. Brennan

 is primarily known as the Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of the The Vanguard Group from 1996 to 2009. Brennan was born in 1954 in Boston Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College, and earned an MBA from Harvard.

Career
Brennan began his career in 1976 when he joined the New York Bank for Savings. After earning an MBA, he joined S.C. Johnson & Son in 1980. He joined Vanguard in 1982. . Brennan was named President of Vanguard on May 17, 1989, with duties that prepared him for succeeding company founder John Bogle as company CEO.

Brennan was named CEO of Vanguard in 1996, and was made Chairman of the company in 1998. Brennan served both roles until his retirement from the positions in 2009.

Significant initiatives undertaken during Brennan's management tenure include:


 * International expansion. Vanguard opened operations in Australia, Europe, Japan, Latin America, Canada and Singapore.
 * The creation of  target retirement funds.
 * The creation of exchange-traded funds and lower cost admiral shares for mutual funds.
 * The launch of Vanguard's donor-advised charity program, known as the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program.

As of 2017 Brennan is Chairman of Vanguard Charitable board of trustees

Post Vanguard positions
After retiring as Vanguard CEO and Chairman, Brennan has served as board member and trustee for several institutions and corporations.

Brennan became a member of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) Board of Trustees in 2009. From February 2009 to October 2012, Mr. Brennan served as FAF chairman, responsible for the oversight of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).

Brennan was named lead governor of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in 2011, and served as FINRA Chairman from August 2016 to July 2017,

Brennan has also served on the board of the Hanover Insurance Group.

As of 2017, Brennan is serving on the board of directors at General Electric, LPL Financial Holdings Inc., and American Express. Brennan is also a director of the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.

Brennan also serves as Chair on the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustees.

Book
On September 20, 2002 Wiley published Straight Talk on Investing: What You Need to Know by John J. Brennan with Marta McCave.