With revenues of about $25 billion, PepsiCo
ranks as the world’s fourth largest food and beverage
company. It includes: Frito Lay, the world’s largest
manufacturer and distributor of snacks; Pepsi-Cola, the second
largest soft drink business; Tropicana, the largest marketer
and producer of branded juices; Gatorade, the world’s
leading sports drink; and Quaker Foods, which merged with
PepsiCo in August 2001.
Mr. Kendall, a National Business Hall of Fame
laureate, has been recognized as one of the giants of American
industry. Not only did he build one of the world’s
premier consumer products companies, he also used his position
in business to serve his nation, to advance the cause of
international understanding and to promote human equality
and justice.
Mr. Kendall joined Pepsi-Cola Company as a
fountain syrup sales representative following distinguished
service in World War II as a Naval aviator. He advanced from
sales to managing a sales crew, to managing sales for all
company-operated plants. In 1951 he became assistant national
sales manager, and a year later was promoted to vice president
in charge of national sales. In 1956 he became vice president
in charge of marketing for the United States, with responsibility
for all sales, advertising and promotion.
In 1957, Mr. Kendall became President of Pepsi-Cola’s
oversea operations. Under his leadership Pepsi-Cola’s
international presence expanded dramatically. The number
of countries in which Pepsi-Cola was available more than
doubled and sales tripled.
Mr. Kendall was named President and Chief Executive
Officer of Pepsi-Cola Company in 1963. He launched a series
of marketing and management innovations that accelerated
the sales of Pepsi-Cola. And he added new products, such
as Diet Pepsi-Cola and Mountain Dew, to broaden both the
company’s product line and its consumer base.
In 1965 Mr. Kendall engineered the merger that
brought Pepsi-Cola Company together with Frito-Lay to create
PepsiCo, Inc. Mr. Kendall was appointed President and Chief
Executive Officer of the new company. He was elected Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer in 1971, a position he held until
his retirement.
Under Mr. Kendall’s leadership, PepsiCo
became one of the largest corporations in the United States.
PepsiCo divisions also expanded their operations to new areas
of the world, including the former USSR (where Pepsi-Cola
was the first foreign consumer product to be sold) and the
Peoples Republic of China.
Throughout his career, Mr. Kendall has been
extremely active in a wide variety of key cultural, economic
and political organizations, both domestically and internationally.
Major appointments include: National Alliance of Businessmen
(Chairman, 1969; director for eight years); US-USSR Trade
and Economic Council (first US Co-Chairman, 1973-1977), Emergency
Committee for American Trade (Chairman, 1969-1976), the Chamber
of Commerce of the United States (Chairman of the Board,
1981-1982), National Center for Resource Recovery, Inc. (Chairman
from 1970 to 1976), Grocery Manufacturers of America (Chairman
from 1969-1971) and the American Ballet Theatre Foundation
(Chairman of the Board, 1977-1983).
Mr. Kendall serves on the Board of Directors
of Orvis and Enfrastructure. He is also Director of the Institute
for Environmental and Natural Resources at the University
of Wyoming and the Wildlife Heritage Foundation of Wyoming.
Mr. Kendall has been widely recognized for
his contributions to American business. In 1987 the Board
of Editors of Fortune magazine selected Mr. Kendall for induction
into the National Business Hall of Fame, where he joined
such business legends as Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison,
Alfred Sloan and John D. Rockefeller. The award recognizes “outstanding
business leaders who have contributed significantly to the
growth of the private enterprise system and of this country.”
In 1986 the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational
Fund honored him with the first Equal Justice Award. The
Fund recognized his leadership in public affairs and social
responsibility, noting: “By demonstrating throughout
his career a genuine openness of mind, a restless searching
for fresh opportunity and a spaciousness of vision often
all too rare in the higher reaches of corporate life, Don
Kendall has provided for future generations a model of enlightened,
progressive and authentic patriotism--blended with true citizenship
of the world and a lifelong, unshakable dedication to the
cause of equal justice.”
Mr. Kendall’s dedication also extends
to the arts. He is perhaps most recognized for the outstanding
collection of 20th century outdoor sculpture in the Donald
M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens that surround the corporation’s
headquarters in Purchase, New York. The gardens feature works
by major artists such as Rodin, Calder and Moore and are
considered the foremost corporate sculpture gardens in the
world.
A native of Sequim, Washington, Mr. Kendall
attended Western Kentucky State College. He is the recipient
of an Honorary Doctorate of Law Degree from Stetson University,
DeLand, Florida; an Honorary Doctorate of Law Degree from
Babson College, Wellesley, Massachusetts; and a Doctor of
Law from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Mr. Kendall
also received Doctor of Humane Letters degrees from Mercy
College, Dobbs Ferry, New York; Manhattanville College, Purchase,
New York; the State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase;
and Long Island University, Brookville, New York.
Mr. Kendall is keenly interested in physical
fitness. He jogs and bicycles regularly, plays tennis and
golf, and is the architect of PepsiCo’s award winning
fitness program for employees.
