If you're a fan of author and Food Network host Ina Garten, then Jeffrey Garten's life
story probably begins the day he first noticed her on campus at Dartmouth University.
But Jeffrey had a fascinating life long before he set eyes on his future wife.
Garten, the younger of two boys, was born into a military family in 1946.
His father, Melvin Garten, had been a decorated military veteran who won a number of service
medals during World War II.
Garten says he remained in the dark about his father's military heroics until much later
in life, which is no surprise — because, as he said in 2016:
"Anyone who came into our house, if they didn't know he was in the military, they would have
never known he was this decorated soldier."
To the Gartens, being a military family meant moving around quite a bit, and they lived
in a wide array of different places — from England and Germany to Rhode Island, Kansas,
and beyond.
And while living life on the road might sound exciting, Garten has described his younger
years as lonely — albeit generally happy.
When it was time to leave for university, he chose Dartmouth, and enrolled in 1964 with
a major in government.
To help pay for his school fees, he joined the ROTC, and it was during his freshman year
that he met Ina Rosenberg, who was the younger sister of one of his friends.
Soon after their first date, Jeffrey began sending invitations for Ina to visit him,
and when Ina finally left home to go to college in Syracuse, she would regularly make the
six-hour trip to spend the weekend with him.
Generally speaking, their relationship was different from those of their peers, because,
as Jeffrey puts it:
"It was very fashionable at the time for guys to date women who were going off to medical
school or law school.
but Ina was sending me shoe boxes of brownies and making me sweaters."
Ina and Jeffrey married in 1968.
"He's kind, he's smart, he's funny, and he takes very good care of me.
He's wonderful."
Because his tuition had been paid for by the US Military, Garten joined the 82nd Airborne
Division, and later served on the Thai-Burmese border.
Once his stint in the army ended, he returned to Washington, to what was then known as Johns
Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, hoping to earn a master's degree.
Around this time, Jeffrey Garten prepared a paper for the National Security Council
at the request of a former professor, which led to stints in both the Nixon and Carter
administrations.
This came to an end, however, when Ina decided that life in the White House wasn't for her.
Jeffrey later recalled:
"My wife wanted to change her life, and I was all for it."
Shortly after, Jeffrey Garten took a job with the investment banking firm Lehman Brothers,
and immediately distinguished himself by working out a deal that turned around two large Hong
Kong shipping companies.
Garten worked on Wall Street for 13 years before returning to government service as
undersecretary of commerce for international trade during the Clinton administration.
In 1995, Garten reinvented himself yet again when he signed on to become the dean of the
Yale School of Management.
He later told Johns Hopkins Magazine that he didn't know anything about academic management
when he took on the job, but that he felt that the school needed to have a stronger
sense of identity.
During his 10 years there, he believes he left a mark on the storied institution, saying:
"Yale has a lot of advantages.
But I think I settled the school down and pointed it in the right direction.
I did a few things I thought were important at the time, and the Yale reputation took
over from there."
His association with Yale continues to this day, as Garten currently works as the Juan
Trippe Professor of International Trade, Finance and Business.
He has authored a number of books, and also acts as chairman of his own global consulting
firm.
Not too shabby, don't you think?
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