John A. Edwardson

John A. Edwardson received a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1971 and an honorary doctorate in 2006. After completing his studies, he launched a remarkable career leading major global corporations. From 2001 to 2011, Edwardson was chairman and chief executive officer of CDW, a leading provider of technical products and services for business, government and education. Under his leadership, CDW’s annual revenue grew from $3.8 billion to more than $10 billion. Edwardson remained chairman until his retirement in 2012. Earlier in his career, he was president of United Airlines, chief financial officer of Northwest Airlines, chairman and chief executive officer of Burns International Services, and executive vice president of Ameritech (now part of AT&T). Edwardson currently serves on the board of directors of Chubb Ltd and previously was a FedEx board member. Purdue honored Edwardson with an Outstanding Industrial Engineer Award in 1997 and a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award in 1988.