Reed S. Cordish (born June 18, 1974) is a fourth-generation American real estate developer, former professional tennis player, and former senior aide to President Donald Trump.[1]

Reed S. Cordish
Cordish in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Auditorium
Assistant to the President
In office
January 20, 2017 – February 16, 2018
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byBrooke Rollins
Personal details
Born (1974-06-18) June 18, 1974 (age 49)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
SpouseMaggie Cordish
Children2
ParentDavid S. Cordish
EducationGilman School
Alma materPrinceton University
OccupationFormer professional tennis player, real estate investor, public official

Cordish is a principal and partner at his family-owned Baltimore-based real estate investment and development firm The Cordish Companies[2] where he was also affiliated with Live! Hospitality & Entertainment, a subsidiary of The Cordish Companies.[3]

Early life and education edit

Reed Saunders Cordish was born in 1974 in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the youngest son of former Goucher College professor Penelope (née Sales) and American real estate developer David S. Cordish.[4] His grandfather is Paul L. Cordish.[5] Both his parents were Jewish.[6]

Cordish attended the Gilman School in Baltimore from first grade through high school. After graduating from Gilman, he went to Princeton University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English in 1996. Cordish was awarded the William Roper Award for the member of the senior class who demonstrates scholastic and athletic excellence.

While at Princeton, he played #1 singles on the Princeton tennis team for three years, earning a position on the All-Ivy Team and serving as captain of the team his senior year.[7] He received the George Meyers Church Tennis Trophy for advancing tennis at Princeton in 1995 and 1996, and the Leon Lapidus Memorial Award awarded to the member of the men's tennis team with the greatest achievement and dedication.[8]

Career edit

Real estate development edit

Cordish was a principal and partner of The Cordish Companies, a real estate development and entertainment company. He also presided over Live! Hospitality & Entertainment, an entertainment and restaurant industry operations company under the umbrella of The Cordish Companies, sharing the same physical address.[9][10]

At The Cordish Companies, Cordish helped develop the company's Live! brand, which has grown to encompass large-scale entertainment projects, sports-anchored districts, casinos, hotels and residential projects including Ballpark Village, the Power & Light District, XFINITY Live!, and Maryland Live! Casino.[11][12][13][14][15]

Live! Hospitality & Entertainment, provides hospitality and entertainment services, and operates multiple restaurants nationwide.[16][17]

Tennis edit

Cordish played collegiate tennis at Princeton University. During his tenure at Princeton, he played #1 singles on the tennis team for multiple years, earning a position on the All-Ivy Team.

After college, Reed continued his tennis career for almost two years, qualifying to play on the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour, and playing in the main draw of events including the ATP challenger in Brazil and the Legg Mason tour event in Washington D.C.[18]

Cordish and his family were lead donors in building the Cordish Family Pavilion at the Lenz Tennis Center at Princeton University.[19]

Politics edit

Cordish directed the Agency Beachhead teams for President-Elect Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential transition.[20]

In January 2017, Cordish was appointed Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental and Technology Initiatives.[21][22][23] Cordish was part of the Office of American Innovation, led by Trump Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, with a directive to overhaul government functions using ideas from the business sector.[24] Other members of the Office of American Innovation included National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, Assistant to the President and Senior Counselor for Economic Initiatives Dina Powell, and Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Initiatives Chris Liddell.[25][26][27] Mr. Cordish played a principal role in domestic policy initiatives including Workforce Development and Criminal Justice Reform.[28][29][30][31]

Cordish resigned in February 2018, saying that he never planned to stay with the administration for more than a year and that his policy role was complete.[32]

Personal life edit

In 2010, he married Margaret “Maggie” Katz in a ceremony at his home in Baltimore.[33][34] He and his wife are close friends and neighbors of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.[35] Ivanka introduced the couple who would later work in the White House under the Kushners.[36][33][37][38][39] Mrs. Cordish is a student at Johns Hopkins University.[40]

Reed Cordish is active in his community, and currently Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Johns Hopkins Hospital.[41] In 2012, the university opened and dedicated the Cordish Lacrosse Center.[42] He is on the Board of Trustees for the National Medal of Honor Museum.

References edit

  1. ^ "Baltimore Real-Estate Developer Reed Cordish To Join Trump Administration". 17 January 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  2. ^ Fox, Emily Jane (14 June 2017). "Can Jared Kushner's SWAT Team of Mini-Mes Protect Him in the White House?". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  3. ^ "Reed Cordish on Sports-Fueled Xfinity Live!". Archived from the original on 2018-06-21. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  4. ^ Fritze, John. "Baltimore developer Reed Cordish has big job in the Trump administration: Fix the government". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  5. ^ Briggs, Johnathon E. (April 9, 2003). "Paul L. Cordish, 93, founder of law firm, city delegate". The Baltimore Sun.
  6. ^ "Penelope Arden Sales has been awarded the degree of bachelor of arts cum laude from Goucher College Towson Md". Cincinnati Post – via Newspapers.com. An English major she was recently elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She was also president of the Jewish Students Assn at the college. Miss Sales is the daughter of Mr and Mrs Adolph Sales of Avondale
  7. ^ "Losing lesson serves Cordish well". tribunedigital-baltimoresun. Archived from the original on 2018-06-20. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  8. ^ "Men's Tennis Record Book". Princeton Athletics. Princeton University. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  9. ^ "As Fourth Street Live lawsuit advances, Cordish downplays ties to its own entertainment district - Insider Louisville". 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Former Zoologist/Animal Trainer". Archived from the original on 2021-11-07. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
  11. ^ "Cardinals eye Ballpark Village progress; looking better than KC". FOX2now.com. 2013-07-18. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  12. ^ Sun, Baltimore. "The Cordish Companies' Ballpark Village in St. Louis". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  13. ^ "Comcast-Spectacor and The Cordish Companies Announce Partnership with Comcast Corporation to Create the XFINITY Live! Philadelphia Dining and Entertainment District". corporate.comcast.com. 2011-12-15. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  14. ^ "Braves announce six new concepts for The Battery Atlanta – The Battery Atlanta". batteryatl.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-10. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  15. ^ "Maryland Live! owners win license for Philly casino". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  16. ^ Figueras, Ligaya. "Celebrity chef Todd English opening restaurant at the Battery Atlanta | Atlanta Restaurant Scene". Archived from the original on 2017-04-11. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  17. ^ Gose, Joe (2013-05-14). "St. Louis Development Plays Off Busch Stadium". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  18. ^ s.r.o., eHM. "Marcus Hilpert vs. Reed Cordish - Legg Mason Tennis Classic - Washington D.C. - TennisLive.net". www.tennislive.net. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  19. ^ "Cordish Family Pavilion and Lenz Tennis Center". Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  20. ^ "Trump names Reed Cordish tech assistant". Fedscoop. 2017-01-17. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  21. ^ Parker, Ashley; Rucker, Phillip (March 26, 2017). "Trump taps Kushner to lead a SWAT team to fix government with business ideas". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  22. ^ Fritze, John (January 17, 2017). "Reed Cordish to join Trump administration". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  23. ^ Confessore, Sharon Lafraniere, Nicholas; Drucker, Jesse (2017-03-14). "Prerequisite for Key White House Posts: Loyalty, Not Experience". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-10.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Kelly, Kate (2017-04-29). "Persuasive Business Leaders Parade Through White House". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  25. ^ "Trump taps Kushner to lead a SWAT team to fix government with business ideas". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  26. ^ Fritze, John. "Reed Cordish will play role in White House innovation effort". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  27. ^ Shieber, Jonathan (27 March 2017). "Trump to create White House office for 'American Innovation' to be headed by Kushner". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  28. ^ Duncan, Ian. "As a White House adviser, Baltimore developer Reed Cordish helped persuade Trump and others to support criminal justice bill". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  29. ^ "How Trump unexpectedly became the star of criminal justice reform". NBC News. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  30. ^ "Statement by the Press Secretary on Workforce Development Week". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2019-01-03 – via National Archives.
  31. ^ "White House to unveil workforce development program led by Ivanka Trump". www.cbsnews.com. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  32. ^ "Trump tech adviser Reed Cordish is leaving the White House". The Washington Post. February 16, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  33. ^ a b Washington Jewish Week: "Cordish rides his Trump ties to the White House" by Dan Schere April 13, 2017
  34. ^ New York Times: "Margaret Katz, Reed Cordish" October 8, 2010
  35. ^ "Former White House Adviser Pays $7M for Fisher Island Condo". 13 April 2021.
  36. ^ Kullgren, Ian (June 28, 2018). "Top Ivanka paid-leave staffer departs White House". Politico.
  37. ^ Haberman, Maggie; Steinhauer, Jennifer (2016-07-21). "Introducing Her Father, Ivanka Trump Is Character Witness". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  38. ^ "FOIA to DOT for Communications with Reed and Maggie Cordish - American Oversight".
  39. ^ "Ivanka and Jared's Power Play". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  40. ^ "Maggie Cordish | Bipartisan Policy Center".
  41. ^ "Cordish Cares | The Cordish Companies". www.cordishcares.com. Archived from the original on 2019-01-03. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  42. ^ "Cordish Lacrosse Center | Mueller Associates".