Steve Odland

About

Steve Odland is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Conference Board, Inc. The Conference Board is a trusted source of Insights to help Members anticipate “What’s Ahead,” improve their performance, and better serve society. From 2013 to June of 2018, Mr. Odland was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Conference Board’s public policy affiliate, the Committee for Economic Development. From 2011 to 2012, he was an Adjunct Professor in the graduate school of business at Lynn University and at Florida Atlantic University. Mr. Odland served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Office Depot, Inc., an office merchandise retailer, from 2005 until 2010. From 2001 to 2005, he was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AutoZone, Inc., an auto parts retailer. Prior to that, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Tops Markets, Inc., a U.S. food retailer, from 1998 to 2000, and as President of the Foodservice Division of Sara Lee Bakery from 1997 to 1998. He was employed by The Quaker Oats Company from 1981 to 1996.

Steve also was Chairman of the Business Roundtable’s Corporate Governance Task Force; a U.S. Presidential appointee as a Commissioner on the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission; a member of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation; a U.S. Presidential Appointee on the Council on Service and Civic Participation; and a member of the Advisory Council of the Institute for Corporate Ethics. He currently is a member of the Board of Directors of General Mills, Inc., as well as the Conference Board of Canada and is a regular CNBC Contributor.

He has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from The University of Notre Dame, and a Master’s of Management degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

*The Conference Board of Canada is an affiliated but independent operation from The Conference Board, Inc. The Conference Board of Canada is Canada’s leading independent research organization.