Arnold Donald

Arnold Donald
President and Chief Executive Officer
Executive Leadership Council

Arnold Donald is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Executive Leadership Council, a professional network and leadership forum for African-American executives of Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining the ELC, Mr. Donald was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, the largest charitable funder of diabetes research in the world. Previously, Mr. Donald was Chairman of Merisant Company®; its products include leading global tabletop sweetener brands Equal® and Canderel®. Formed in March 2000, Merisant is committed to the growing global need for health, nutritional and lifestyle products based on science and technology.

Prior to assuming leadership of Merisant, Mr. Donald was a senior executive at Monsanto Company in St. Louis, Missouri. He joined Monsanto in industrial chemical sales in 1977 and worked in challenging and responsible roles in his 20 plus years with the company. In January 1998, he was appointed Corporate Senior Vice-President and President of the Consumer and Nutrition Sector of Monsanto with worldwide responsibility in areas that included the company's growth, globalization and technology initiatives. Prior to that, Mr. Donald was President of the $4 billion plus agricultural sector, overseeing three years of tremendous growth and marked by the successful introduction and commercialization of Monsanto's first crop protection products resulting from modern plant biotechnology. He was recognized by the agricultural industry as Agri-Marketer of the Year in 1996.

A native of New Orleans, Mr. Donald received a BA degree from Carleton College, a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. In 1997, Mr. Donald was named Executive of the Year by Black Enterprise Magazine; in 1998, he received the Washington University Distinguished Alumni Award; in 1999, he received the Eagle Award from the National Eagle Leadership Institute; and in 2000 he received the Black Engineers President's Award. In July 2002, Fortune magazine named Mr. Donald #17 on their list of "The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America."

Mr. Donald has an extensive history of involvement in local, national, and international organizations, both professional and civic. In November 1998, Mr. Donald was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the President's Export Council (PEC) for international trade. President Bush re-appointed Mr. Donald to the PEC in February 2003. Mr. Donald currently serves on the boards of Carleton College; Dillard University; Washington University in St. Louis; St. Louis Art Museum; Missouri Botanical Garden; St. Louis Science Center; Opera Theatre of St. Louis; St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association; Barnes-Jewish Hospital; Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc.; Oil-Dri Corporation of America; Carnival Corporation; Laclede Group; The Scotts Company; DHR International; Vertellus, Inc.; and the St. Louis Sports Commission. He also serves on the National Advisory Council for Washington University School of Engineering as well as the medical schools Conflict of Interest in Research Committee.

Mr. Donald is a past President of the Leadership Center of Greater St. Louis and a former member of the Corporate Roundtable of the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Science and the Caux Roundtable. In November 2001, the Governor of Missouri appointed Mr. Donald to the Missouri Life Sciences Research Committee. He has served on the boards of the United Way of Greater St. Louis, U.S.-Russia Business Council, Grocery Manufacturers of America, Eurasia Foundation, the British-American Project, the FFA and the 4-H among others.

Arnold and his wife Hazel have two daughters, Radiah and Alicia, and one son Zachary.