Marilyn Carlson Nelson

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Carlson

Marilyn Carlson Nelson is chairman and chief executive officer of Carlson, a global group of integrated companies providing business and leisure travel, hotel, restaurant, cruise, and marketing services. With headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A., and operations in nearly 150 countries and territories, Carlson-owned and franchised operations employ about 170,000 people.

Forbes magazine has regularly selected Marilyn as one of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women." In 2006 she was named one of "America's Best Leaders" by U.S. News and World Report, and in 2007 Ethisphere Magazine named her one of the "100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics."

She is on the World Economic Forum's International Business Council and in 2004 co-chaired the Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. She recently completed a presidential appointment as chair of the National Women's Business Council, an advisory council to the President and Congress; and is currently vice chair of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.

In October 2006, H.E. Jean-David Levitte, French Ambassador to the United States, invested Marilyn in the French Légion d'Honneur, an order created by Napoleon Bonaparte. The order recognizes citizens of France, and a select few others, for their exemplary service to humanity.

Outside her industry Marilyn serves on the boards of Exxon Mobil Corporation, the Mayo Clinic Foundation, and the Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy.