Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Frederick W. Smith is chairman, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corporation, a $33-billion global transportation, business services and logistics company.
Smith is responsible for providing strategic direction for all FedEx Corporation operating companies, including FedEx Services, FedEx Express, FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight. FedEx serves more than 220 countries and territories with operations that include 661 aircraft and over 80,000 vehicles. More than 275,000 team members worldwide handle more than 8 million shipments each business day. Since founding FedEx in 1971, Smith has been an active proponent of regulatory reform, free trade and "open skies agreements" for aviation around the world. Most recently, he has advocated for vehicle energy-efficiency standards and a national energy policy.
FedEx has continued to strengthen its industry leadership over the past 37 years, and has been widely acknowledged for its commitment to total quality service. FedEx Express was the first service company to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1990. FedEx has consistently been ranked on FORTUNE magazine’s industry lists, including “World’s Most Admired Companies,” “100 Best Companies to Work For” and is on FORTUNE’s “Blue Ribbon Companies List." In addition, FedEx placed 13th on CHIEF EXECUTIVE magazine’s “2008 Best Companies for Leaders” list.
Smith has served on the boards of several large public companies and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Mayo Foundation Boards. He was formerly chairman of the Board of Governors for the International Air Transport Association and the U.S. Air Transport Association. Smith is a member of the Business Roundtable, is a board member for the Council on Foreign Relations and is co-chairman of the Energy Security Leadership Council. He served as chairman of the U.S.-China Business Council and is the current chairman of the French-American Business Council. In addition, Smith received the Circle of Honor Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, the Lone Sailor Award from the U.S. Navy Memorial, the 2010 President’s Award from the Transportation Research Forum, the Marine for Life Award from the United States Marine Corps, was named 2006 Person of the Year by the French-American Chamber of Commerce and received the Medal of Honor from the American Chamber of Commerce in France. He is a member of the Aviation Hall of Fame, served as co-chairman of both the U.S. World War II Memorial Project and the campaign for the National Museum of the Marine Corps, was named among the world’s best CEOs by BARRON’S magazine and was CHIEF EXECUTIVE magazine’s 2004 “CEO of the Year.”
Born in 1944 in Marks, Miss., Smith attended Yale University, where he earned a B.A. in 1966. Smith served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966-1970.
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