FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AUGUST 31, 2010
AFCF CONTACT: Vince Thompson, Director of Media Relations
FEDEX CHAIRMAN FREDERICK W. SMITH TO RECEIVE 2010 AMERICAN FOOTBALL COACHES FOUNDATION® CEO COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD
WACO, TEXAS – The American Football Coaches Foundation® today announced that Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and CEO of FedEx Corp., is the 2010 recipient of its CEO Coach of the Year Award.
This is the highest honor bestowed by the organization, whose inaugural recipient in 2006 was Jeffrey R. Immelt, the CEO of General Electric. Domino’s Pizza CEO David Brandon, MidAmerican Energy Holdings CEO David Sokol and former HP CEO Mark Hurd received the honor in 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively.
Smith was selected for the award by a unanimous vote of the AFCF Board of Directors. He will be honored at The Foundation’s CEO Coach of the Year Dinner, held at The Waldorf=Astoria® in New York, N.Y., on December 13, 2010.
“Frederick W. Smith is an ideal selection for the CEO Coach of the Year,” AFCF Executive Director Grant Teaff said. “His leadership in American business is unparalleled. Mr. Smith is also an active leader in the game of football with his ownership in the NFL and his deep connection to the game on the collegiate level.”
“It’s a great honor to receive this award,” Smith said. “We at FedEx are grateful to the thousands of football coaches, at every level, across the country who support and guide our next generation of leaders. These people donate countless hours of their personal time to give their players the tools they need to succeed on and off the playing field.”
Smith provides strategic direction for all FedEx Corp. operating companies. More than 280,000 team members worldwide handle more than 8 million shipments daily and serve more than 220 countries and territories. Since founding FedEx in 1971, Smith has been an active proponent of regulatory reform, free trade and “open skies agreements” for aviation around the world. Most recently, he has advocated for vehicle energy-efficiency standards and a national energy policy.
Under Smith’s leadership, FedEx has consistently been ranked on FORTUNE magazine’s industry lists, including “World’s Most Admired Companies,” “100 Best Companies to Work For” and is on FORTUNE’s “Blue Ribbon Companies List.”
The funds raised from the CEO Coach of the Year dinner will support the AFCF’s education initiatives through the American Football Coaches Association’s publications, website and national convention. More than 6,000 football coaches from all levels attend the national convention, and more than 10,000 football coaches globally benefit through personal, technical and leadership development. Because of The Foundation, football coaches on all levels nationwide pay minimal membership dues and are never charged a convention fee.
The AFCF, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization was established by the American Football Coaches Association in 1998 to fund its education mission. Its specific responsibility is to seek contributions from a broad range of donors – friends, businesses, corporations, foundations and trusts, to support and implement existing AFCA educational programs; and, to develop exciting and dynamic new initiatives that will serve the coaches, the student-athletes, and the schools they represent. Contributions generated by The Foundation will ensure that the coaching community will continue to have the finest possible professional development and educational tools, now and in the future.
For more information on the AFCF and its programs, log on to the AFCF’s website at www.afcf.us.
–(AFCF)–
