Douglas R. Conant ’73, ’76 MBA (’09 P)

Fortune 500 CEO and New York Times bestselling author

Douglas R. Conant is a New York Times bestselling author and keynote speaker with more than 40 years of leadership experience at global companies. He is founder and CEO of ConantLeadership. He also serves as chairman of the Kellogg Executive Leadership Institute at Northwestern University and CECP—The CEO Force for Good, and was former chairman of Avon Products.

From 2001 to 2011, he was president and CEO of Campbell Soup Company, where he reversed a decline in market value, delivered cumulative shareholder returns in the top tier of the food industry, and led employee engagement levels from being among the worst in the Fortune 500 to among the best. From 1996 to 2001, he served as president of Nabisco Foods Company. Prior to that, he held top leadership positions at Kraft and General Mills.

Conant serves on the boards of several organizations, including AmerisourceBergen, Higher Ambition Leadership Institute, Partnership for Public Service, National Organization of Disability, and others. He is the only former Fortune 500 CEO who is a New York Times bestselling author, a Top 50 Leadership Innovator, a Top 100 Leadership Speaker, and a Top 100 Most Influential Author in the World.

Conant is married to Leigh Pierson Conant ’77, and they have three children, Sarah ’09, Tyler, and Benjamin. He received a bachelor of arts in political science and a master of business administration from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.