| Christine Jack Toretti | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Republican National Committee from Pennsylvania |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office August 21, 1997 Serving with Bob Asher |
|
| Preceded by | Anne Anstine |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Lute Olson (divorced) |
| Profession | Businesswoman |
Christine Jack Toretti is a businesswoman, philanthropist, and GOP National Committee member from Indiana, Pennsylvania.
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Toretti is the Chairman and CEO of S.W. Jack Drilling Co., which is the largest privately held land-based drilling company in the United States.[1] As of 2005, it is the nineteenth largest contract drilling company in terms of total footage drilled.[2] The company, founded in 1918 by Toretti's grandfather, is headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania and has regional offices in Buckhannon and Charleston, West Virginia.[3][4] The S.W. Jack Company supports oil and gas exploration in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia and New York.[4]
She assumed control of the company upon the unexpected death of her father, Samuel W. Jack Jr., in 1990.[5][6] Prior to that, she served as CFO.[6] She is noted as a rare female CEO in the male-dominated energy industry.[7] The company had 92 employees and $5 million in annual revenue in 1990.[3] In 1995, Toretti expanded the company significantly when she led the purchase and merger with another drilling company. She relinquished day-to-day operations in 1997.[3] The company currently has 350 employees and $60 million in annual revenue.[3]
From 2004-2010, S.W. Jack Drilling donated more than $150,000[8] to now acting Pennsylvania governor, Tom Corbett, which some believe was a payoff in exchange for no severance tax and the repeal of environmental policies created to protect the environment from natural gas drilling[9].
Toretti met now-former University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson at an NCAA dinner.[10] They married in Las Vegas on April 14, 2003.[11] During their marriage, she and her sons, Joe, Max, and Matthew, split time between her home on a 200-acre (0.81 km2) farm in Indiana, Pennsylvania and Tucson, Arizona.[10] Olson filed for divorce on December 6, 2007[11] The proceedings became contentious, with Toretti alleging that Olson improperly moved funds from a joint account the day after filing for divorce.[12]
She serves on several corporate boards, including S&T Bank and the Lockhart Company.[13] She sits on the board of The Andy Warhol Museum, the National Council of Colonial Williamsburg, the Indiana Hospital, Chi Omega Foundation, the Indiana County Chamber of Commerce, and The Committee of 200.[13] She previously served as President of the Foundation of Indiana University of Pennsylvania[13]
Toretti founded the Anne Anstine Excellence in Public Service Series, a training program specifically designed to educate, empower and advance Republican women.[14]
Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge appointed her to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education in 1995, where she helped reorganize the organization's investments in higher education.[13][14] Former Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker appointed her to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. President George W. Bush appointed her to the Rural Telephone Bank, the National Petroleum Council and to the Advisory Board for the U.S. Secretary of Energy[14]
She was elected RNC National Committeewoman from Pennsylvania on August 21, 1997[13] She served on the RNC Committee on Arrangements for the 2000 Republican National Convention. She was a key player in Bush's 2000 election, when she was one of the first Pennsylvania Republicans to endorse the then-Texas Governor.[15] The Pennsylvania Report named her to the 2003 "The Pennsylvania Report Power 75" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics.[16] In 2002, she was named to the PoliticsPA "Power 50" list of politically influential personalities.[17] She was also named to the PoliticsPA list of "Pennsylvania's Most Politically Powerful Women"[18] In 2010, Politics Magazine named her one of the most influential Republicans in Pennsylvania.[19]
She chaired Lynn Swann's 2006 campaign for Governor of Pennsylvania.[1]