Citizen Staff Writer
SHERYL KORNMAN
skornman@tucsoncitizen.com
Jack B. Jewett, 62, a former Arizona legislator and ex-president of the Arizona Board of Regents, is returning to Arizona to become CEO of the Flinn Foundation in June.
The multimillion-dollar Phoenix-based nonprofit funds college scholarships and bioscience and arts initiatives.
Jewett left Tucson in 2007 to become vice president for advancement at California State University-Monterey Bay.
The 1969 University of Arizona graduate was vice president of public policy at Tucson Medical Center when he left to take the California job. He worked for TMC for 13 years.
At the time, he was helping to oversee the hospital’s plans for rebuilding and expansion, now stalled by the current economy.
Jewett, a Republican, was elected to the state Legislature in 1982 after working in his family’s publishing business.
He served 10 years in the Legislature, his final two years as majority whip.
During his legislative career, he turned down a bribe and reported what became known as AzScam – a bribery scandal – to authorities.
Jewett served on the Arizona Board of Regents from 1998 to 2006.
He now serves on the board of directors of the national Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.
The Flinn Foundation hired Jewett after a national search that began after John Murphy said he would retire.
“Jack is a proven leader with an idea background to match the interests of the Flinn Foundation,” said Dr. David J. Gullen, chairman of the foundation’s board of directors.
Jewett’s track record in “forging institutional collaboration will further the foundation’s role in promoting partnerships at a time of constrained resources.”
The Flinn Foundation was created by Dr. Robert Flinn, a Phoenix cardiologist, and his wife Irene, a philanthropist, to improve the quality of life for Arizonans. The foundation’s initial focus was on health care.
In 2007, the foundation had more than $215 million in assets.
Jewett to return to Arizona to head Flinn Foundation