COHON, GEORGE A.

COHON, GEORGE A. (1937– ), U.S. entrepreneur and philanthropist. Cohon was born in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from Northwestern University Law School. After serving in the American military, he was practicing law when he met Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's. Kroc offered Cohon the McDonald's franchise for Eastern Canada. In 1967 Cohon moved his young family to Toronto and began opening restaurants in Canada. In 1971 Cohon sold his rights back to McDonald's in return for company stock, becoming the second largest shareholder in McDonald's after Kroc himself. While Cohon stayed at the helm of McDonald's Canada, in 1976 he began negotiating the opening of McDonald's restaurants in the Soviet Union. His efforts culminated with the first Moscow McDonald's in 1990. In addition to introducing fast food marketing, mechanization, and management techniques to the Soviet Union, McDonald's demand for quality ingredients led to the introduction of innovative agricultural and food-processing methods to the Soviet Union. McDonald's, for example, spent over five times more building a huge food-processing plant than it did on the restaurant itself. During his prolonged period of negotiations with Soviet officials, Cohon came to know Soviet power brokers at the highest level. He quietly used these connections to advocate on behalf of Soviet Jews. Cohon was honored with the Order of Friendship from Russian President Boris Yeltsin. His philanthropic endeavors, including his work as patron for the chain of Ronald McDonald Houses which provide accommodations for families whose children are receiving medical treatment, have earned Cohon the Order of Ontario, Honorary Doctorate (Haifa), the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews Human Relations Award, Israel's Prime Minister's Medal, and an appointment as Officer of the Order of Canada. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. Cohon (with D. MacFarlane), To Russia with Fries (1997). (Paula Draper (2nd ed.)