John J. Castellani
President, Business Roundtable

John J. Castellani is President of Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. corporations with a combined workforce of nearly 10 million employees and $5 trillion in annual revenues. Business Roundtable has been cited by the Financial Times as "the most influential chief executive lobbying group in the U.S." and is at the forefront of public policy debates, advocating for a vigorous, dynamic global economy.

Business Roundtable companies give more than $7 billion a year in combined charitable contributions, representing nearly 60 percent of total corporate giving. They are technology innovation leaders, with more than $70 billion in annual research and development spending – more than a third of the total private R&D spending in the U.S.

Since joining Business Roundtable in May 2001, Castellani has significantly strengthened the Roundtable’s reputation in Washington, DC, nationally and internationally and has led the Roundtable’s efforts on key public policy issues ranging from trade expansion to civil justice reform to fiscal policy. He has been cited by Bloomberg as one of Washington’s six most influential lobbyists.

Castellani and the Roundtable played vital roles in the adoption of long-awaited civil justice reform legislation in 2005, approval of the Central America Free Trade Agreement, and enactment of critically important legislation to lower tax rates and slash taxes on dividends in 2003. He also has been a leader of the coalition working in support of Social Security reform. Other significant areas of leadership for Castellani and the Roundtable include passage of bilateral free trade agreements with partners including Australia, Chile and Morocco; passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance reforms; organizing the Partnership for Disaster Response to improve the flow of private sector resources, services and staff following a major disaster; and development of the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics, a first-of-its-kind business ethics center designed to renew and enhance the link between ethical behavior and business practices.

Castellani is called frequently by the news media for comment on business and public policy issues, and has appeared on such programs as NBC’s “Meet the Press,” PBS’ “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” and CNBC’s “Street Signs.” He regularly provides testimony before Congress on issues of key concern to Business Roundtable, and has discussed the Roundtable’s agenda for economic growth in speeches to the Detroit Economic Club and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Prior to becoming President of Business Roundtable, Castellani was Executive Vice President of Tenneco Inc., and part of the senior management team that led the transformation of the ailing conglomerate into seven strong companies.

Castellani’s Washington experience includes serving as Vice President for Resources and Technology with the National Association of Manufacturers, and as Vice President of State, Federal and International Government Relations for TRW Inc. He started his career at General Electric as an environmental scientist and strategic planner.

In 2007, Castellani was named one of the 100 most influential people in corporate governance by Directorship Magazine.

A graduate of Union College (Schenectady, New York), Castellani now serves on its board of trustees. He is also an Ethics Resource Center Executive Fellow and a member of the Advisory Council of the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics in addition to being a member of The Economic Club of Washington, D.C. He and his wife, Terry, reside in Washington, DC, and have two sons.