Thomas G. Ayers was president (1964–1980), CEO and chairman (1973–1980) of Commonwealth Edison

Commonwealth Edison

Commonwealth Edison is the largest electric utility in Illinois, serving the Chicago and Northern Illinois area...

.

Ayers served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

, the Erikson Institute

Erikson Institute

Erikson Institute is a graduate school in child development located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. It is named for the noted psychoanalyst and developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson.-History and mission:...

, the Bank Street College of Education

Bank Street College of Education

Bank Street College of Education is located in Manhattan, New York City.-History:Bank Street was founded in 1916 by Lucy Sprague Mitchell as the "Bureau of Educational Experiments"....

 in New York City, the Chicago Symphony

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...

, the Chicago Community Trust

Community foundation

Community foundations are instruments of civil society designed to pool donations into a coordinated investment and grant making facility dedicated primarily to the social improvement of a given place...

, the Chicago Urban League

Chicago Urban League

Chicago Urban League, Established in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, is an affiliate of the National Urban League that develops programs and partnerships and engages in advocacy to address the need for employment, entrepreneurship, affordable commercial real estate and a quality education...

, the Community Renewal Society, the Chicago Association of Commerce and Industry

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization promoting business in the Chicago metropolitan area of the United States. The Chamber is a voice at local, state and national levels for approximately 2,600 member companies and their 1.3 million employees...

, Chicago United, the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, and Dearborn Park Corp., and served as vice president of the Chicago Board of Education.

Ayers also served on the board of directors of Sears

Sears, Roebuck and Company

Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...

, G.D. Searle

G. D. Searle & Company

G.D. Searle & Company or just Searle was a company focusing on life sciences, specifically pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and animal health. It is now part of Pfizer.- History :...

, Chicago Pacific Corp.

Chicago Pacific Corporation

The Chicago Pacific Corporation was a shell corporation created from the remains of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. It managed to use much of the capital made from the liquidation of the Rock Island to acquire non-rail ventures such as The Hoover Company, Pennsylvania...

, Zenith Corp.

Zenith Electronics

Zenith Electronics Corporation is a brand of the South Korean company LG Electronics. The company was previously an American manufacturer of televisions and other consumer electronics, and was headquartered in Lincolnshire, Illinois. LG Electronics acquired a controlling share of Zenith in 1995...

, Northwest Industries, General Dynamics Corp.

General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...

 of St. Louis, First National Bank of Chicago

First Chicago Bank

First Chicago Bank was a Chicago-based retail and commercial bank tracing its roots back to 1863. Over the years, the bank operated under several names including The First National Bank of Chicago and First Chicago NBD...

, the Chicago Cubs

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

, and the Tribune Co

Tribune Company

The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...

.

In 1938, he married Mary Andrew, the mother of his children. His son William Ayers

Bill Ayers

William Charles "Bill" Ayers is an American elementary education theorist and a former leader in the movement that opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He is known for his 1960s activism as well as his current work in education reform, curriculum, and instruction...

, once the leader of the radical Weather Underground

Weatherman (organization)

Weatherman, known colloquially as the Weathermen and later the Weather Underground Organization , was an American radical left organization. It originated in 1969 as a faction of Students for a Democratic Society composed for the most part of the national office leadership of SDS and their...

, has been a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Chicago

The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...

 since 1987. His son John Ayers, once on the staff (1983–1986) of former U.S. Rep. Lane Evans

Lane Evans

Lane Allen Evans is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 until 2007, representing the 17th District of Illinois...

 (D

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

-IL

Illinois' 17th congressional district

The 17th Congressional District of Illinois covers much of west central Illinois, including the cities of Sterling, Rock Island, Moline, Kewanee, Galesburg, Canton, Macomb, Quincy, Springfield and Decatur, and areas in Henry, Whiteside, Rock Island, Mercer, Knox, Warren, Henderson, Fulton,...

), is a national leader in charter school

Charter school

Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...

development.