Virgin Islands
Gov. John de Jongh, Jr.
- January 1, 2007 - January 5, 2015
- Democratic
- November 13, 1957
- Virgin Islands
- Antioch College
- Married Cecile Galiber; three children
About
John Percy de Jongh, Jr., became governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands on January 1, 2007.
During his tenure, he championed early childhood education issues, establishing the Children and Families Council, and pushed for economic diversification of the four islands that comprise the U.S. Virgin Islands. He instituted a government-wide Energy Demand Reduction Program to reduce the territory’s dependency on fossil fuels and advanced the use of alternative and renewable energy sources in the Territory.
De Jongh was a member of the Tri-Island Economic Development Council and was then hired by Chase Manhattan Bank. During his six years there, de Jongh became the first Country Consumer Manager responsible for all consumer banking products in the U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands (BVI) and St. Maarten. In 1984, de Jongh was appointed to the Industrial Development Commission, and in 1987 he was appointed as the youngest Commissioner of Finance. De Jongh also served as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority and Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority.
In 1993, de Jongh reentered the private sector as a senior managing consultant for Public Financial Management, Inc. He served as president, chief operating officer and director of Lockhart Companies Incorporated, a real estate and insurance holding company with properties and businesses in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Turks & Caicos. He also served three terms as president of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce and the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, a philanthropic organization focused on children and families.
De Jongh was raised on St. Thomas where he attended St. Peter and Paul School. He graduated from Catholic Central High School in Detroit and received a bachelor’s of arts degree in economics from Antioch College (Yellow Spring, Ohio) in 1981. De Jongh and his wife, Cecile René Galiber, of St. Croix, are the proud parents of three children, John III, René and Julian.
