National Governors Association

CARL T.C. GUTIERREZ was born in Agana Heights, Guam, and is a 1960 graduate of South San Francisco High School. He has been a member of Guam's business community since the early 1970s, as founder and president of his own company and as a board member or consultant for other companies. He was first elected to public office in 1972, serving in the Guam State Senate from 1973 to 1986, including two terms as speaker. He was reelected to the senate in 1989 and served as chair of the Ways and Means Committee, a position he held until he was elected governor in 1994. In addition to his nine terms in the senate, Governor Gutierrez has served as president of the Constitutional Convention and of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures, and as host president of the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarian's Union. He is the recipient of an honorary doctorate of humanities from the World Academy of Arts and Sciences in Taiwan and an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Guam. In 1997 he was given the Eagle Award by the National Guard Bureau for heroism displayed following the crash of Korean Air Lines flight 801. He formed a charitable organization in 1994, People Helping People, to extend assistance to residents of Guam requiring medical treatment off-island.