FedEx CEO Fred Smith to Speak at Embry-Riddle Commencement

Frederick W. Smith will be the commencement speaker. Smith is chairman, president, and chief executive officer of FedEx Corp., a $20 billion global transportation and logistics holding company. Smith founded Federal Express in 1971 and the company began operations in 1973.

Smith is responsible for providing strategic direction for all FedEx Corp. operating companies: FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Express, FedEx Freight, FedEx Ground, and FedEx Trade Networks. These FedEx companies serve 211 nations with operations that include more than 650 aircraft and 90,000 vehicles. Approximately 215,000 employees and independent contractors worldwide handle an average daily shipment volume of nearly five million items.

A leader in regulatory reform, Smith has been an active proponent of global commerce and "open skies agreements" for aviation around the world. In 1976 he launched an airline deregulation campaign before Congress, the Department of Transportation, and the Civil Aeronautics Board to obtain an air cargo operating certificate for large aircraft. The following year President Carter signed air cargo deregulation into law and passenger airline deregulation soon followed.

Under Smith's leadership FedEx has continued to strengthen its industry leadership over the past 27 years with its total commitment to quality service. In 1990 FedEx Express became the first service company to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and in 1994 was the first global express transportation company to receive simultaneous worldwide ISO (International Standards Organization) 9001 certification, with recertification in 1997.

Smith is a director of the Business Roundtable, the Cato Institute, the Library of Congress James Madison Council, and the Mayo Foundation. He is also chairman of the U.S.-China Business Council. Smith has served on the boards of several large public companies and is co-chairman of the U.S. World War II Memorial Project. Formerly he was chairman of the board of governors for the International Air Transport Association and chairman of the executive committee of the U.S. Air Transport Association.

He earned a B.S. in political science at Yale University in 1966 and served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam from 1966-1970.

Smith will receive Embry-Riddle's Eagle of Aviation Award to honor his significant contributions to the field of aviation.

During the graduation ceremony, the title of professor emeritus will be bestowed on seven Embry-Riddle faculty members in recognition of their many years of teaching, research, and service. The professors to be honored are Bishop Blackwell and Les Kumpula of the Aeronautical Science Dept.; Fred Mirgle, Philip Reeves, and Chandler Titus of the Aviation Maintenance Technology Dept.; Janet Preston of the Humanities/Social Sciences Dept.; and Mary Gurnee of the Physical Sciences Dept.

Embry-Riddle, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, meets the needs of students and industry through its educational, training, research, and consulting activities. Embry-Riddle educates 22,000 students through the master's level at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., at more than 100 teaching sites in the United States and Europe, and through distance learning.