For many of you, the name Jon Huntsman is familiar only because of the Huntsman Center basketball arena at the University of Utah. Others will recognize his contributions to higher education -- most notably through the still-new Huntsman Hall at Wharton or the Huntsman Cancer Institute, also at the University of Utah. My connection to Jon Huntsman is a bit more personal.

Jon Huntsman interviewed my wife and me for our marriage 18 years ago. At the time, he was my wife's ecclesiastical leader (a lay position in the Mormon church), and I remember being very impressed with his presence.

Two years later, I met him in the middle of a hostile takeover bid, which Huntsman Chemical was launching against another company in 1989. At the time, I was a summer associate for Skadden Arps, and he and I had a long conversation about his charitable work in Russia and Afghanistan while the real lawyers prepared documents. (We also discussed his work schedule, which usually found him in New York six days a week and in Utah on Sundays.)

A few years later, I did work for Huntsman Chemical as a regular associate at Skadden. In one proposed transaction involving Indonesia, we were told of the need to hire a local agent, who could ensure the cooperation of government officials. The method of providing such assurance would have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (which prohibits bribery of foreign politicians). I am happy to report that Huntsman Chemical wanted nothing to do with the transaction after hearing of this nefarious structure.

Jon Huntsman built the largest privately held chemical company in the world on the back of millions of polystyrene clamshell containers, once used by McDonald's for its hamburgers. The company was founded in 1982, and manufactures a variety of chemicals. (When I was working on the Indonesian transaction, we were trying to sell the chemical that makes soda fizzy!) Jon stepped down as CEO in 2000, paving the way for his son Peter.

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