Arnold W. Donald receiving his award during the 23rd Annual Trumpet Awards at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center on January 24, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Trumpet Awards, founded by Xernona Clayton, was created to celebrate and honor African American achievers and those who support the African American experience. The annual event salutes accomplishments in law, medicine, business, politics, the arts, civil rights, sports, entrepreneurship, entertainment and other careers. Honorees included designer Tommy Hilfiger, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock, Carnival Corporation President and CEO Arnold W. Donald, recording artists/songwriters The Isley Brothers, Morehouse School of Medicine President and Dean Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice and Sunshine Holdings Chairman Franklin R. Wilson. The awards ceremony will be televised on Feb. 21 on TV One (check local listings for times).

Biography

He is also Principal of AWDPLC LLC, a private investment company. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of The Executive Leadership Council, a professional network of African-American executives of major U.S. companies, from 2010 to June 2012.

He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International from 2006 to 2008.

Mr. Donald was Chairman (2000 -2005) and Chief Executive Officer (2000 - 2003) of Merisant Company, whose products include leading global tabletop sweetener brands Equal and Canderel.

While running Monsanto's $4 billion agriculture business, Mr. Donald persuaded the company to sell him its Equal division. Merisant, the $400 million company he founded in St. Louis, is now the undisputed leader in the artificial sweetener market.

Prior to assuming leadership of Merisant, Mr. Donald was a senior executive at Monsanto Company in St. Louis, MO. He joined Monsanto in industrial chemical sales in 1977 and worked in ever more challenging and responsible roles in his 20 plus years with that company. In January 1998, he was appointed Senior Vice-President of the corporation with worldwide responsibility in areas that include the company's growth, globalization, and technology initiatives.

Prior to that, Mr. Donald was President of the $4 billion plus agricultural sector, overseeing three years of tremendous growth and marked by the successful introduction and commercialization of Monsanto's first crop protection products resulting from modern plant biotechnology. He was recognized by the agricultural industry as Agri-Marketer of the Year in 1996.

In 1997, Mr. Donald was named Executive of the Year by Black Enterprise Magazine; in 1998, he received the Washington University Distinguished Alumni Award; in 1999, he received the Eagle Award from the National Eagle Leadership Institute; and in 2000 he received the Black Engineers President's Award. In July 2002, Fortune Magazine named Mr. Donald #17 on their list of "The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America".

Mr. Donald received a BA degree from Carleton College, a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

By: Errol I. Mars

{module Arnold W. Donald}

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