The Moore School will present the Center for Executive Succession’s 2023 Leadership Legacy Award to David Calhoun, president and chief executive officer of The Boeing Company, an international leader in the aerospace industry. Calhoun will accept the award and participate in a ceremony on Wednesday, Sept. 20. The event will be 5:30-6:30 p.m. in Moore School room 101 and is open to University of South Carolina students, faculty, staff and the public. Attendees must register in advance.
The Leadership Legacy Award recognizes a CEO who has personally invested their time and effort in building a legacy of leadership talent in their organization while simultaneously charting a long, successful track record of delivering financial, reputational and social performance. It is the only award of its kind that celebrates a CEO's profound commitment to developing future C-suite leaders.
Calhoun became Boeing president and CEO in January 2020. He has served as a member of Boeing’s Board of Directors since 2009 and was board chairman from October to December 2019. Calhoun has extensive expertise in a wide array of strategic, business, safety and regulatory matters across several industries as a result of his executive, management and operational experience.
Calhoun previously served as senior managing director and head of portfolio operations at The Blackstone Group from January 2014 to December 2019. During his time with the investment firm, he focused on creating and driving added-value initiatives with Blackstone’s portfolio company CEOs.
Previously, Calhoun served as executive chairman of the board for Nielsen Holdings from January 2014 to January 2016. He joined Nielsen in 2006 as CEO shortly after it was acquired through a consortium of private equity investors, including Blackstone. Throughout his seven-year Nielsen tenure, Calhoun led the company’s transformation into a leading global information and measurement firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
Calhoun began his career at General Electric Company (GE), where he rose to vice chairman of the company and president and CEO of GE Infrastructure, its largest business unit. During his 26 years at GE, he held a number of operating, finance and marketing roles and led multiple business units, including GE Transportation and GE Aircraft Engines.
Calhoun is a member of the board of directors of Caterpillar Inc. and a member of the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of leading U.S. companies. He also is a member of Virginia Tech’s Pamplin Advisory Council and is co-author of the book How Companies Win.
Calhoun has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Virginia Tech.
Learn more about the Leadership Legacy Award and past winners.