[1][2][3] Jonathan Lavine was born in Providence, Rhode Island to Jewish parents and graduated from Classical High School in 1984.

Lavine then attended Columbia College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and earned a BA magna cum laude in 1988.

[5] Lavine married Jeannie Diane Bachelor in June 1992 at Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston, New Jersey.

In 1998, Lavine founded Sankaty Advisors, LLC as the credit and special situations affiliate of Bain Capital and was managing partner and chief investment officer of the firm.

[10] On December 6, 2016, President Barack Obama named Lavine to be a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.