Embry-Riddle Welcomes Aviation Business Veteran Leanne Caret to Board of Trustees

Longtime CEO and Fortune 100 director Leanne Caret has been announced as the newest member of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Board of Trustees. 

A senior advisor to Blackstone, Caret currently serves as board director and chair of audit committee for both Deere & Company and RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies). She is also a senior advisor to MyNextSeason, which offers coaching to C-suite leaders, and was most recently the executive vice president and senior advisor to The Boeing Company, where she also served as CEO and president of Boeing Defense, Space and Security. She retired in 2022.

“The greatest act that any of us can do, as Americans, is to pay it forward,” Caret said. “I look forward to doing just that at Embry-Riddle, in contributing to the university’s mission of developing the next generation of talent throughout the fields of aviation and aerospace.”

Across her 34-year career at Boeing, Caret led finance, operations and management divisions, as well as managed a $30 billion budget and oversaw 30,000 employees.

“Leanne is an expert in helping high-performing organizations reach the next level,” said Mori Hosseini, chair of Embry-Riddle’s Board of Trustees. “She is a highly strategic thinker with a wealth of experience in industry — exactly the type of person to help lead this institution into the future.”

Additionally, Caret serves on the boards of the Kansas State University Foundation and USO Inc. She is a member of the advisory boards for Virginia Tech National Security Institute and the Oklahoma Aerospace Defense Innovation Institute, as well as a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

“Trustee Caret has led change at global companies, mentored senior leaders and has helped transform industries by championing the integration of emerging technologies,” said Embry-Riddle President P. Barry Butler, Ph.D. “The university is sure to benefit from her wisdom and counsel.”

A graduate of Kansas State University, Caret earned her Master of Business Administration from Wichita State University. She earned an honorary doctorate from Embry-Riddle in 2022.

Posted In: Institutional News