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Edsel Ford II

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Edsel Ford II
Ford in 2018
Born
Edsel Bryant Ford II

(1948-12-27) December 27, 1948 (age 77)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
OccupationBoard of Directors at Ford Motor Company
Spouse
Cynthia Ford
​
(m. 1974)​
Children
Parent(s)Henry Ford II
Anne McDonnell Ford Johnson
RelativesWilliam Clay Ford Jr. (cousin)

Edsel Bryant Ford II (born December 27, 1948) is the great-grandson of Henry Ford, grandson of Edsel Ford I, and the only son of Henry Ford II. He served as a member of the board of directors of Ford Motor Company for 33 years before announcing his retirement, and serves on the finance committee and sustainability and innovation committee. He is a cousin of the company's Executive Chairman, William Clay Ford Jr.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Ford attended Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1968 from The Gunnery in Washington, Connecticut before entering Babson College.[3][4] He received his business administration bachelor's degree at Babson and completed the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School in 1981.[3]

Career

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Ford (on right in white shirt) celebrating Joey Logano's 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship

Between 1978 and 1980, Edsel ran sales and marketing at Ford Australia.[5]

As a board member of Ford, Edsel has been active in company affairs and corporate dealer relations.[1] He was named president and chief operating officer of Ford Motor Credit Company in 1991, and elected a Ford Vice President in 1993.[3] In 2013, Edsel was awarded the Keith Crain/Automotive News Lifetime Achievement Award.[6] Long seen as the public face of Ford Motor Company's motor racing efforts, particularly in NASCAR, in May 2019, Edsel was nominated for and won the NASCAR Hall of Fame's Landmark Award.[7][8] His retirement was announced in 2021 and his son Henry Ford III was elected to the board to replace him at the May shareholders' meeting.[2][9]

Edsel purchased Pentastar Aviation in 2001.[10]

Personal life

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Ford is married to Cynthia Layne Neskow and they have four sons, including Henry Ford III, who works for the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, and serves on the board of trustees of the Ford Foundation.[11][12] and Calvin Ford, who works for Pentastar Aviation in Waterford, Michigan.

Edsel Ford II is the chairman of the board of the Henry Ford Estate - Fair Lane in Dearborn, Michigan. He serves on the board of The Henry Ford.[13] He is currently[when?] the director emeritus of the board of directors at Henry Ford College in Dearborn, Michigan, and also served on the board of trustees for the Skillman Foundation.[14] He was previously chairman of the National Advisory Board of the Salvation Army and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch. Appointed by then-mayor Dennis Archer, Ford was the chairman of Detroit 300, a major civic and philanthropic effort that organized the celebration of the city of Detroit's 300th birthday in 2001.[15] Ford was then appointed as the founding chairman of the Detroit 300 Conservancy and was instrumental in the development and construction of Campus Martius Park (which the conservancy continues to maintain).[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Board of Directors, Ford Motor Company". Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Edsel B Ford II retires from Ford board, more Fords join". ABC News. March 12, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021 – via Associated Press.
  3. ^ a b c "Edsel B. Ford II | Ford Media Center". media.ford.com. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  4. ^ "Edsel Bryant Ford II - Most Connected 2015 | Crain's Detroit Business". Crain's Detroit Business. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  5. ^ Clark, Andrew (August 30, 1979). "Edsel Ford in Australia: Young Man in No Hurry". New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
  6. ^ "Edsel B. Ford II to receive award from Keith Crain". Automotive News. October 8, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  7. ^ "Landmark Award". Nascar Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  8. ^ "Stewart, Gibbs top NASCAR Hall of Fame class". Reuters. May 23, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  9. ^ "Our Leadership".
  10. ^ "Owner & CEO, Pentastar Aviation". Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  11. ^ "Ford Foundation elects Henry Ford III to Board of Trustees". Ford Foundation. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  12. ^ Baime, A.J. (February 2, 2015). "Fifty Sense". Autoweek. 65 (3): 40–44. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  13. ^ "Mission & Board of Trustees". The Henry Ford.
  14. ^ "Crain's Most Connected". Crain's Detroit Business. Crain Communications. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  15. ^ Serwach, Joseph (December 13, 2005). "EDSEL FORD'S WORK AIDS THE COMMUNITY". Automotive News. Crain Communications.
  16. ^ "Conservancy Background". Detroit 300 Conservancy.
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