Arnold W. Donald

Arnold W. Donald grew up in New Orleans during segregation and went on to a business career across several industries. In a Washington University account of his early Monsanto work, he recalled being one of two Black employees in his setting.

His education crossed disciplines. Through a dual-degree path, he studied economics at Carleton College and mechanical engineering at Washington University, earning the engineering degree in 1977. He later added an MBA from the University of Chicago. As a student, he helped establish a Society of Black Engineers at Washington University to support fellow students, work the university credits to a student organization rather than one person.

Donald joined Monsanto and spent more than two decades there, rising to senior executive responsibilities, including leadership of its nutrition and consumer sector. In a 2019 university talk, he described an early customer account other departments did not want. He built a proposal that cut the customer's costs and helped keep the business.

In 2000, he became chairman and chief executive of Merisant, whose products included Equal sweetener. He served as chief executive through 2003 and stayed on as chairman until 2005. Then came nonprofit leadership: the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International from 2006 to 2008 and the Executive Leadership Council from 2010 to 2012.

Donald became Carnival's president and chief executive in July 2013, leading a company with multiple cruise brands. His tenure ran through the pandemic's prolonged interruption of passenger cruising and ended on August 1, 2022, when Josh Weinstein succeeded him.