Debra Crew

{{Infobox person

| name =

| image = Debra Crew 2022.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Crew in 2022

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|12|20}}

| birth_place = Honolulu, Hawaii, US

| death_date =

| death_place =

| alma_mater = University of Denver (BA)
University of Chicago Booth School of Business (MBA)

| occupation = President and CEO of Diageo

| term = 2018–present

| spouse =

| children =

| known_for =

}}

Debra Ann Crew (born December 20, 1970){{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-3815978541.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419003610/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-3815978541.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 April 2016|title=Stanley Black & Decker Reports Acquisition by Director Crew (Connecticut|publisher=US Fed News Service|date=24 September 2015|access-date=15 October 2015|url-access=subscription }}{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2014/10/06/debra-crew.html|title=Debra Crew|work=CNBC|year=2015|accessdate=15 October 2015}} is the president and CEO of Diageo.{{Cite web|title=Diageo names Debra Crew as North American president|url=https://www.fooddive.com/news/diageo-names-debra-crew-as-north-american-president/575074/|access-date=2021-03-23|website=Food Dive}} She is also a board member of Mondelez International, and the former president and chief executive officer of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.{{Cite web|url=http://fortune.com/fortune500/reynolds-american/|title=Reynolds American|website=Fortune|access-date=2017-06-18|archive-date=2017-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709175929/http://fortune.com/fortune500/reynolds-american/|url-status=dead}} She previously held senior management positions at PepsiCo, Mars, Incorporated, and Dreyer's.

Education and military service

Crew earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Denver, and her MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

She served in the United States Army from 1993 to 1997 in the field of military intelligence, achieving the rank of captain.{{cite web|url=http://insiders.morningstar.com/trading/executive-profile.action?PersonId=PS00008Z3G&flag=Director&insider=Debra_Crew&t=XNYS:SWK®ion=usa&culture=en-US&cur|title=Debra A. Crew, Independent Director|work=Morningstar, Inc.|year=2015|accessdate=15 October 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102222/http://insiders.morningstar.com/trading/executive-profile.action?PersonId=PS00008Z3G&flag=Director&insider=Debra_Crew&t=XNYS:SWK®ion=usa&culture=en-US&cur|url-status=dead}}

Business career

Crew began her business career at Kraft Foods in 1997, where she filled a number of management positions. After seven years at Kraft, she moved to Dreyer's, a subsidiary of Nestlé, where she worked from 2004 to 2008, rising to Senior Vice President of Marketing, Frozen Snacks. From 2008 to 2010 she was the General Manager and chief marketing officer of Petcare US, at Mars, Incorporated.

Crew joined PepsiCo in April 2010 as president, Western European Region, headquartered in Geneva. In August 2012 she was named to the newly created position of President of Pepsico Americas Beverages, which incorporated responsibility for the North American operations of the Gatorade and Tropicana brands, the Latin America Beverages operation, the North America warehouse sales operation, and the Beverage Growth Ventures Group.{{cite web |url=http://adage.com/article/news/pepsico-creates-president-role-americas-beverages/236712/|title=PepsiCo Taps Debra Crew for New President-Americas Beverages Role

|first=Natalie|last=Zmuda|date=16 August 2012|accessdate=15 October 2015|work=Advertising Age}} In August 2014 she was named president and General Manager of PepsiCo North America Nutrition.

In October 2014 Crew departed PepsiCo to become president and Chief Commercial Officer of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.{{cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/blog/morning-edition/2014/09/r-j-reynolds-tobacco-names-debra-a-crew-as-its.html|title=R.J. Reynolds Tobacco names Debra A. Crew as its president|first=Mark|last=Sutter|date=19 September 2014|accessdate=15 October 2015|work=Triad Business Journal}} She had been a director of the company since December 2013. The switch from the food to cigarette industry surprised observers, as well as the timing, since she had headed PepsiCo's North America Nutrition for only two months. In September 2015 her title changed to president and COO.{{cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2015/09/r-j-reynolds-tobaccos-debra-crew-adding-coo-to.html|title=R.J. Reynolds Tobacco's Debra Crew adding COO to title|first=Owen|last=Covington|date=14 September 2015|accessdate=15 October 2015|work=Triad Business Journal}} As COO she oversaw $8.6 billion of the company's estimated $10.7 billion in post-merger sales.{{cite web|url=http://fortune.com/most-powerful-women/debra-crew-47/|title=Debra Crew, 45|work=Fortune|year=2016|accessdate=18 June 2017|archive-date=4 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170604231428/http://fortune.com/most-powerful-women/debra-crew-47/|url-status=dead}}

On January 1, 2017 Crew became the CEO of Reynolds American, taking over from former CEO Susan Cameron.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2016/10/20/meet-debra-crew-soon-to-be-reynolds-americans-ceo.html|title=Meet Debra Crew, soon to be Reynolds American's CEO|last=Arcieri|first=Katie|date=20 October 2016|website=www.bizjournals.com|access-date=2017-06-18}} She was one of the few women CEOs of a major American tobacco company.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/d3e00f16-ae48-338a-a59f-8e13ba7461bc?mhq5j=e1|title=Reynolds American names Debra Crew as new CEO|last=Yuk|first=Pan Kwan|date=19 October 2016|website=Financial Times|access-date=2017-06-18}}

In April 2019, Crew was appointed a non-executive director to Diageo's board. In July 2020, she replaced Deirdre Mahlan as president of Diageo North America.

On July 1, 2023 Crew was appointed CEO of Diageo,{{Cite web |title=Sir Ivan Menezes to retire from Diageo; Debra Crew to be appointed Chief Executive Officer |url=https://www.diageo.com/en/news-and-media/press-releases/2023/sir-ivan-menezes-to-retire-from-diageo-debra-crew-to-be-appointed-chief-executive-officer |access-date=2023-09-20 |website=www.diageo.com}}{{Cite web |last=Shah |first=Oliver |date=2024-06-16 |title=I worked in military intelligence — now I'm determined to fix Diageo's problems |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/debra-crew-was-a-military-agent-now-shes-fixing-diageos-problems-k76rwz8dq |access-date=2024-06-16 |website=The Times}} it is the first time in the company's history to appoint a female CEO.{{Cite news |last1=Vardon |first1=Elena |last2=Susin |first2=Michael |date=2023-03-28 |title=Guinness Maker Diageo Appoints Its First Female CEO |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/guinness-maker-diageo-appoints-its-first-female-ceo-a20b2860 |access-date=2023-09-20 |issn=0099-9660}}

Memberships

In 2013, Crew was named to the board of directors of Stanley Black & Decker.{{cite web |url=http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_24669339/du-alum-debra-crew-named-black-amp-decker|title=DU alum Debra Crew named to Black & Decker board|first=David|last=Migoya|date=12 June 2013|accessdate=15 October 2015|work=The Denver Post}}

Honors and recognition

She was named to the Fortune list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2014 and 2015. Crew has been named four times to Fortune magazine's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business, ranking No. 44 in 2014,{{cite web |url=http://fortune.com/most-powerful-women/2014/debra-crew-44/|title=The Most Powerful Women in Business|first1=Caroline |last1=Fairchild|first2=Beth |last2=Kowitt|first3=Colleen|last3=Leahey|first4=Anne |last4=VanderMey|year=2014|accessdate=15 October 2015|work=Fortune}} No. 46 in 2015, No. 47 in 2016 and No. 34 in 2017.

In 2023, she ranked 79th in the Forbes list of "World's 100 most powerful women"{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=The World's Most Powerful Women 2023 |url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/power-women/ |access-date= |website=Forbes}} and 65th on Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women.{{Cite web |title=Most Powerful Women |url=https://fortune.com/ranking/most-powerful-women/ |access-date= |website=Fortune}}