Chairman
Jim Courter is Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT, IDT.B), a consumer services company with operations primarily in telecommunications and energy industries based in Newark, New Jersey. Mr. Courter served as President and then CEO of the company from 1997 until October 2009. In 1971, Mr. Courter co-founded the New Jersey law firm of Courter, Kobert & Cohen, P.C. He was a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand from January 1994 to September 1996. He was Vice President of Courter & Co., a mechanical engineering firm in New York City, early in his career.
His career in public service included representing New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years, from 1979 until 1991. He was elected as the Republican Party’s nominee for Governor of New Jersey in 1989. From 1991 to 1994, Mr. Courter held the cabinet level position of Chairman of the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, having been appointed by both President George Bush and President Bill Clinton; the Commission oversaw the restructuring of the United States’ domestic military base infrastructure. In 1986, Mr. Courter published “Defending Democracy”, a collection of speeches and essays on matters of national security. His opinion pieces have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Reader’s Digest and numerous other publications. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer for two years in Venezuela, South America.
He is Chairman of the Lexington Institute, a think tank dedicated to resolving issues of foreign policy, national security and international trade. He serves as a trustee to the U.S. National World War II Museum located in New Orleans, Louisiana and of Berkeley College, a college with campuses in New Jersey and New York. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Centenary College, New Jersey.
A long-time resident of New Jersey, Jim Courter received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University and a Juris Doctorate degree from Duke University School of Law. Jim and his wife Carmen now live in Captiva Island, Florida. They are the proud parents of two daughters, Donica and Katrina, and five grandchildren.