Retired Chairman & CEO, Ford Motor Company

Donald E. Petersen became Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Ford Motor Company on February 1, 1985.  Prior to his election as Chairman, Mr. Petersen has been President and Chief Operation Officer since March 13, 1980.  He was a member of the Board of Directors from September 8, 1977 until his retirement in February 1990.

Born in Pipestone, Minnesota on September 4, 1926, Mr. Petersen joined Ford in 1949 after receiving a master’s degree in Business Administration from Stanford University.  He received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington in 1946.  Mr. Petersen served in the U.S. Marine Corp in World War II and the Korean War.

Mr. Petersen received the University of Washington’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1981.  He received the Stanford Business School Alumni Association’s Arbuckle Award for outstanding achievement in business management in 1985.  He remains active in various capacities at both schools.

In 1986, Mr. Petersen became the first recipient of the American Achievement Award, presented by Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina for “significant Contributions to the United States through achievement in the areas of industry, business, science, and the arts.”  He also received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Detroit, and honorary Doctor of Human Letters degree from the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California, an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from Michigan Technological University, an honorary Doctor of Laws from Millsaps College, and an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree from Providence College.

In 1989, Mr. Petersen accepted the Quarterback of Industry Award on behalf of the Ford team from the Quarterback Club in Washington, D.C. was honored with the “Semper Fidelis” Award from the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, was elected the 1989 Honorary Member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and received the Midwest Research Institute’s 1989 Trustee Citation.  He was also named the 1989 Chief Executive of the Year.

Mr. Petersen is a member of the Business Council, the National Academy of Engineering, the Society of Automotive Engineers, and the Engineering Society of Detroit.  He served as a director on the boards of The Boeing Company, Dow Jones & Co., and Hewlett-Packard Company.  He is currently a board member of five mutual funds of the Capital Research and Management Company, and Axicon Technologies.  He is on the Executive Advisory Board of the Juran Center for Leadership in Quality, and President of the Advisory Board of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Washington.

Mr. Petersen and his wife reside in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.