Edwin D. Fuller

President, Laguna Strategic Advisors, LLC

Former President & Managing Director, Marriott Lodging International

Former Chairman, School of Hospitality Administration Advisory Board

A hospitality industry leader, educator and best-selling author, Ed Fuller is President of Irvine, California-based Laguna Strategic Advisors, a global consortium that provides opportunities and services to independent providers of business consulting services.

Culminating with his service as Marriott International’s President & Managing Director of International Lodging for nearly 22 years, Mr. Fuller’s distinguished, performance-driven corporate career spanned four decades. His experience included chief sales and marketing officer, North American regional operations, global leadership as President of Marriott International.  As the executive in charge of global operations, international crisis management, top-level customer relationship management, sales and marketing leadership and long-term strategy development.  As President he applied corporate philosophies, delivered on brand promise and ensured ethical decisions. His results included the creation of 80,000 new jobs worldwide, the formation and operation of 555 hotels in 73 countries, $8 billion in annual sales, and the implementation of multiple security, environmental, philanthropic and educational initiatives.

Ed Fuller’s colorful and real-world experiences are recounted in his top 20 best-selling business book, “You Can’t Lead with Your Feet on the Desk,” published globally in English, Chinese and Japanese by John Wiley & Co. in 2011.  He is the co-author of “Red Hotel”, a thriller novel published March 2019 by Beaufort Books.

Over the years, in addition to his business world experience, Ed Fuller has focused his energies on supporting educational and corporate social responsibility activities. An active alumnus of Boston University, he is former Vice Chairman of its Board of Overseers, former President of the University’s Alumni Association and a former Trustee. He served as Chairman of its hospitality and management school’s advisory board for 12 years, and is a member of the President’s International Advisory Board.  In 1998 he received the Alumni Award, the University’s highest honor for Alumni.  He is a member of Boston University’s Scarlet Key, and the William Fairfield Warren Society.  He is a member of Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity and Sigma Alpha Epsilon.  At the University of California Irvine, he is a Trustee of the University’s Foundation and former Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Merage School of Business. He is also a member of the Chancellor’s CEO Roundtable.  Since 2013, he has been an adjunct professor of Globalization in the University’s business school’s master’s and undergraduate programs.

At California State University, he serves as a member of the Chancellor’s Hospitality Management & Tourism Advisory Board and a director of the University’s San Marcos Foundation.  He serves on the Advisory Board for California State University at Fullerton, and the Entertainment and Hospitality Board.

Since 2012 he has been an adjunct professor of Leadership at the University’s College of Hospitality in Pomona and San Diego State University.  He is also an adjunct professor at the Paul Merage School of Business @ the University of California, Irvine.

He is a former Trustee of The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum; chaired the Governing Board of the International Tourism Partnership for 10 years, served for seven years on the Safe Kids Worldwide Board and serves on the Althea Foundation Board, and he was formerly a Board member of the Pacific Area Travel Association Foundation and of United Way International.

Ed Fuller is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Orange County (California) Visitors’ Association.  Since 2008, he has been a Commissioner for Travel & Tourism for the State of California and in 2013 joined the staff of Visit California.  Ed has served on the US Travel Association Board of Directors for four years.  He became an Emeritus member of the Travel Industry Management School Advisory Board at the University of Hawaii. He also serves as Chairman and Trustee of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation.

He serves as a Board Member of The Mind Research Institute in Irvine, CA. He is also a former member of the Advisory Board of the Merage Investment Group (2012 – 2018), an advisory board member of Concord Hotels, a Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigators National Academy Associates Foundation (FBINAA), and Commissioner Emeritus of Visit California.

His professional contributions have been lauded globally, including being presented with the University of Nevada Las Vegas 2013 Hospitality Industry Leader of the Year Award. In 1989 he received the Chairman’s Award from Marriott International, Inc.  In 2008 he was recognized and presented with the China Hotel Investment Summit Lifetime Achievement Award.  In 2010, he was bestowed the Hotel Investment Forum India Aatithya Award; and in 2012, he was presented the International Hotel Investment Forum’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Berlin.  He received HSMAI’s 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award in New York City.

Mr. Fuller served as a Captain in the U.S. Army and was awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal for service during missions in Vietnam and Germany.

Linkedin