Rick Cronk

After graduating from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in 1965, Cronk started his career with Eastman Dillon & Co. In 1972 he started a restaurant chain called "Vintage House" in the same vein as theme eatery pioneer Victoria Station. The chain struggled and in 1977 Cronk and T. Gary Rogers purchased Dreyer's, then a popular ice cream company operating exclusively in the San Francisco Bay Area. Cronk built Dreyer's from a $6 million company to a $1.5 billion company. In 2003, Cronk retired after 26 years, having expanded Dreyer's to be the number one ice cream in the United States.[2]

Cronk joined the Boy Scouts of America as a Cub Scout. As a Boy Scout he advanced to Life rank. As an adult, Cronk became a volunteer leader to support his sons, all three of whom are Eagle Scouts.

Cronk served as a district chairman, council president, area president and chairman of the World Scout Foundation. He received the Silver Buffalo Award in 2001.[1]

Cronk was the national commissioner of the Boy Scouts of America from 1999 to 2004. He then became an executive vice president in 2006 before becoming the president in 2006.[1]

At the 2008 World Scout Conference, he was elected to a three-year term on the World Scout Committee, and subsequently elected the chairman of the committee. He was also presented with the Bronze Wolf award.[3] Cronk is a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, the organization's governing body.[4]

• "THE CRONK FILE". USA Today. May 23, 2006.