Arlington Hts. native now runs one of the world's biggest corporations

The man who now heads the world's largest consumer products company, Procter & Gamble, grew up in Arlington Heights.

Bob McDonald, 56, took over as CEO of the 172-year-old company with annual sales of $79 billion July 1, with plans to grow sales overseas and streamline management.

The son of Ray and Fro McDonald, who lived at East Grove Street and Burton Place in Surrey Ridge and attended First Presbyterian Church, Bob attended Westgate Elementary School, was in the first class at Thomas Middle School and graduated in 1971 from Arlington High School, where he won a Golden Helmet Award from the Chicago Tribune for being part of the conference championship team that beat Prospect. He played both end and guard in the game.

"Arlington Heights did a great job in educating all three of our kids," said Ray, who moved here from the Miller Beach neighborhood of Gary and who worked in advertising and marketing for different Chicago advertising agencies and corporations before retiring to suburban Indianapolis in 1991.

"When Bob was in high school, he was a sports writer for the Arlington Day," he said, recalling how his son would ride the train to cover games in Mount Prospect. The Day was later bought out by the Daily Herald.

Bob McDonald won appointment to West Point, where he graduated 13th in his class. He was a captain in the 82nd Airborne Division for five years, then joined P&G in 1980. He's lived in Canada, Europe and the Far East for the company, and he spent most of the 1990s leading P&G's businesses in the Philippines, Japan and Korea.

In 2002, he became vice chairman of global operations, developing the company's low-cost-business model, which increased sales in developing markets to 30 percent of company sales. The company is staking its future on international growth - only one of 19 plants under construction or in works is in the U.S.

McDonald is vice chair of the U.S.-China Business Council and a member of the U.S. Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. He is a passionate reader who works out every morning. He has two grown children and has been married to Diane for 31 years.

"We're proud of him," Ray said. "We're proud of all our kids," Fro added.

An older brother, John, is general manager of marketing for General Electric's Energy Transmission and Distribution business, and a daughter, Sue Doron, is director of media for an ad agency in Indianapolis, they said.