Michael Cogley Donahue is the great grandson of Patrick Donoghue who immigrated to Chicago with his wife Mary Kelly Donoghue in the late 1850s (yDNA testing proves that Patrick and his descendants are of the O Donoghue Mór sept).

Mike was born and raised in Chicago and earned degrees at Northern Illinois University and the University of Chicago. For most of the 1980s and 90s, he was involved in the amateur sports movement in the United States. He was the first director of sports marketing at McDonald’s Corp. Later he served as the first president of the National Institute for Fitness and Sport, was a member of the board of directors of the United States Olympic Committee and was chairman of the board of the United States Gymnastics Federation.

Currently, he resides in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife Kim; they have two daughters, Kate and Elizabeth. Mike is affiliated with The Executive Committee (TEC) and serves as an advisor to CEOs.