The Salt Lake Tribune
FRIDAY
March 11, 2005

Huntsman Sr.’s exploits earn him ‘Giant’ award

Jon Huntsman listens to his wife Karen during an interview in his office in
Salt Lake City. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Jon Huntsman Sr. built the world’s largest privately held petrochemical
and plastics business with 121 locations in 44 countries. He donated
$225 million toward the establishment of the Huntsman Cancer Institute
at the University of Utah and has received Armenia’s highest award –
the Medal of Honor – after contributing to the reconstruction of
that country following a devastating 1988 earthquake. For those
accomplishments and philanthropic endeavors, Huntsman was honored
Wednesday as a “Giant in Our City” by the Salt Lake Chamber. “Jon
Huntsman is the epitome of everything the ‘Giant in our City’ award
is about,” said Chamber President Lane Beattie. “He is a giant in
his industry. He is a giant in our community – supporting countless
charitable causes. He also is a giant where it matters most – in
his family,” Beattie said. Huntsman and his wife, Karen, are the
parents of nine, including son Jon Jr., Utah’s governor. They have 52
grandchildren. A native of Blackfoot, Idaho and a former U.S. Navy
gunnery officer, Huntsman has received a dozen honorary doctorates
and is chairman of the Board of Overseers at the University of
Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, the country’s highest-rated
business school. He is on the American Red Cross board of governors
and two years ago received the “Humanitarian of the Year” award from
CNN’s Larry King. Previous “Giant in Our City” honorees include LDS
Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, Questar executives R.D. “Don”
Cash and D.N. “Nick” Rose, former Salt Lake Organizing Committee
leader Mitt Romney, banker Spence Eccles, former chamber leader Fred
Ball and retired Utah Power executive Verl Topham. – Mike Gorrell