USC Marshall Food Industry Management certificate program will honor Al Carey, CEO of PepsiCo North America, as its 2019 Executive of the Year. Carey will be the keynote speaker at the May graduation banquet, bringing more than 40 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods industry.
“Mr. Carey is respected as both a tremendous leader in the food industry and a remarkable supporter of the Food Industry Management Program. He clearly understands the value of investing in his people as they grow in their careers and is also dedicated to developing leadership talent” said Jim Ellis, dean of the USC Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles, California.
Carey is responsible for leading PepsiCo’s North America Beverage business, Frito Lay North America and the North America Nutrition business. In the past, Carey’s roles have been CEO PepsiCo Americas Beverages, CEO Frito Lay North America, COO of Frito Lay North America, COO of North America Beverages and president of PepsiCo Sales. Carey worked at Proctor & Gamble for seven years prior to PepsiCo.
Carey recently announced that he will retire from PepsiCo at the end of the first quarter this year, which will mark 38 years at PepsiCo. Today, he serves on the boards of The Home Depot Inc. and Unifi Manufacturing and recently has been named non-executive chairman of Unifi. Carey also serves on the Board of Trustees at the University of Maryland, his alma mater. He volunteers at the Bridgeport Rescue Mission in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He and his wife Vickie have four children and reside in Connecticut.
“Of any recognition I’ve received in my career, this may be the most special since it comes from my customers,” said Carey. “As I look at the list of recipients from the past, many are friends and all are great leaders who invested significant time in developing young leaders for our industry through the USC Food Industry Management Program. I am honored to be considered in this group.”
