Richard “Dick” Donahue, a former president of Nike, passed away on Sept. 15 at the age of 88. A trial lawyer with close links to the Kennedy family, Donahue became a Nike director in 1978 and helped to map out the brand's international forays in the late 'eighties. He became Nike's president and chief operating officer in 1990. He relinquished these jobs four years later but remained vice-chairman of Nike's board of directors until 2008 and handled some of its legal matters, including its fight to recover Nike's trademark rights in Spain. Donahue is more widely known for supporting John F. Kennedy's rise from congressman to senator and president. He left the White House in 1963, a few days before Kennedy's assassination, to pursue a private law practice, but he remained vice president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation for 29 years. He was president of the Bar Associations of New England and Massachusetts. Donahue's relationship with the Kennedys continued through his association with campaigns by Robert and Edward Kennedy. Yet, he jokingly told The New York Times that his job at Nike was the only one that impressed his children. Donahue and his wife, Nancy, had eleven children.

Topics