McCormick graduated from West Point in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He was a four-time letterman on the Army wrestling team and the team's co-captain his senior year. He was two-time Eastern runner-up at 167 pounds. In 1996, he earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University. Two years later, he published a book based on his doctoral thesis called The Downsized Warrior about the downsizing of the U.S. Army at the end of the Cold War.
Career
Prior to joining Bridgewater, McCormick spent more than 20 years in the military, government and business.
1988 to 1993 - Military service
After leaving West Point, McCormick went to United States Army Airborne School and Ranger School, where he was named the Honor Graduate of Ranger School. He joined the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 1988. McCormick was part of the first wave of U.S. troops sent into Iraq during the first Gulf War in 1991. He was executive officer of a combat engineering company of 130 soldiers tasked with clearing minefields and destroying enemy munitions. McCormick left the service in 1993 after serving for five years.
1996 to 2005 - Early career
From 1996 to 1999, McCormick worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. based in Pittsburgh. In 1999, McCormick joined FreeMarkets, a global provider of software and services. Later that same year the company conducted an initial public offering. McCormick was promoted to president of FreeMarkets in 2001 and was named Chief Executive Officer in 2002. He successfully sold FreeMarkets to Ariba in 2004 for approximately $500 million and then remained at Ariba as president for the next 18 months before he was asked to join the Bush administration.
2005 to 2009 - Public service
McCormick's career in government began in 2005 when he was nominated and confirmed as the Commerce Department's Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security. Later he became the Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Policy and was George W. Bush's personal representative and negotiator to the G-8 industrialized countries before moving to the Treasury Department in 2007. In 2013, McCormick was one of 131 Republican Party members to sign an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court "in support of the freedom to marry". McCormick was Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs from 2007 to 2009, serving as the United States' leading international economic diplomat. In this role, he was the principal adviser to Treasury SecretaryHenry Paulson on international economic issues and oversaw policies in the areas of international finance, trade in financial services, investment, economic development and international debt policy. McCormick coordinated financial market policy with the Group of Seven industrialized countries and the Group of Twentyglobal economies, working with finance ministers as well as their deputies. He served as Secretary Paulson's point person on the international response to the 2008 financial crisis. McCormick was credited with using his relationships with top executives and policy makers around the world to help coordinate the Treasury Department's response. In 2009, McCormick was also appointed a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College and named a Distinguished Service Professor of Information Technology, Public Policy and Management.
2009 to Present - Bridgewater Associates
McCormick joined Bridgewater Associates in 2009. Since 2016 he has served as Co-CEO where he is responsible for overseeing the management of the firm, as well as advising some of the largest investors in the world including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, and central banks on their investments and the global economy, with a particular focus on the intersection of policy and markets. In early 2019 McCormick was under consideration for U.S. Secretary of Defense. In December 2019, it was announced that McCormick would become the sole CEO of Bridgewater in 2020, marking the end of a 10-year management transition of the firm.
