{{Short description|American businessman}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Rick Cronk | image = | caption = William F. Cronk | office = 32nd National President of the Boy Scouts of America | term_start = 2006 | term_end = 2008 | predecessor = John C. Cushman | successor = John Gottschalk | birth_date = October 4, 1942 | birth_place = Lafayette, California | occupation = Chairman of the World Scout Committee }} '''William F. "Rick" Cronk''' (born October 4, 1942) is an American businessman who was co-owner and president of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream. He is a former national president of the Boy Scouts of America and chairman of the World Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
==Business== After graduating from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in 1965, Cronk started his career with Eastman Dillon & Co. In 1972 he started a restaurant chain called "Vintage House" in the same vein as theme eatery pioneer Victoria Station. The chain struggled and in 1977 Cronk and T. Gary Rogers purchased Dreyer's, then a popular ice cream company operating exclusively in the San Francisco Bay Area. Cronk built Dreyer's from a $6 million company to a $1.5 billion company. In 2003, Cronk retired after 26 years, having expanded Dreyer's to be the number one ice cream in the United States.<ref name=dreyersinc>{{cite web | url = http://www.dreyersinc.com/about/index.asp | title = About Dreyer's | publisher = Dreyers | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090201014222/http://www.dreyersinc.com/about/index.asp | accessdate = 2009-04-07| url-status = usurped | archive-date = February 1, 2009 }}</ref>
==Scouting== Cronk joined the Boy Scouts of America as a Cub Scout. As a Boy Scout he advanced to Life rank. As an adult, Cronk became a volunteer leader to support his sons, all three of whom are Eagle Scouts.
Cronk served as a district chairman, council president, area president and chairman of the World Scout Foundation. He received the Silver Buffalo Award in 2001.<ref name= "summary">{{cite web | url=http://www.scout.org/en/information_events/news/2008/38th_world_scout_conference_summary |title=38th World Scout Conference – Summary |publisher=World Organization of the Scout Movement |accessdate=July 23, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529233741/http://www.scout.org/en/information_events/news/2008/38th_world_scout_conference_summary |archivedate=May 29, 2010 }}</ref>
Cronk was the National Commissioner of the Boy Scouts of America from 1999 to 2004. He then became an executive vice president in 2006 before becoming the president in 2006.<ref name="Curtis">{{cite news |last1=Curtis |first1=Mark |title=Lafayette's Rick Cronk Retires from Boy Scouts |url=http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue0221/Lafayettes-Rick-Cronk-Retires-from-Boy-Scouts.html |access-date=2009-09-29 |work=Lamorinda Weekly |location=Moraga, Ca |date=2008-12-24}}</ref>
At the 2008 World Scout Conference, he was elected to a three-year term on the World Scout Committee, and subsequently elected the chairman of the committee. He was also presented with the Bronze Wolf award.<ref name="wolfie">{{Cite web | url = https://www.scout.org/BronzeWolfAward/List | title = List of recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award | publisher = WOSM | website = scout.org | access-date = 2019-05-01 | archive-date = January 29, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160129145907/https://www.scout.org/BronzeWolfAward/list | url-status = dead }}</ref> Cronk is a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, the organization's governing body.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.scouting.org/filestore/media/324-168.pdf |title=Boy Scouts of America Annual Report 2011 |access-date=December 17, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114024453/http://www.scouting.org/filestore/media/324-168.pdf |archive-date=November 14, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite web| url =https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-05-23-cronk-interview_x.htm | work = USA Today | title = THE CRONK FILE | date = 2006-05-23}}
{{s-start}} {{s-npo|wosm}} {{s-bef | before = Philippe Da Costa }} {{s-ttl | title = Chairman, World Scout Committee | years = 2008-2011 }} {{s-aft | after = Simon Hang-bock Rhee }} {{s-npo|bsa}} {{s-bef | before = John C. Cushman III }} {{s-ttl | title = National president | years = 2006 – 2008 }} {{s-aft | after = John Gottschalk }} {{end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronk, Rick}} Category:Living people Category:American business executives in the food industry Category:Haas School of Business alumni Category:World Scout Committee members Category:Recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award Category:1942 births Category:National commissioners of Scouting America Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:Presidents of Scouting America