African American CEOs

African American people are generally considered to be courageous and highly determined. Perhaps, these qualities make them an obvious choice for the post of CEO. Here is a list of the African American CEOs who head some of the biggest companies in the world. These people have changed small-time companies into big economic giants.

Kenneth I. Chenault: Kenneth is 58 years old and is a native of New York. He joined the American Express in 1981 as a strategic planner. Since then, his career graph has been shooting up. He became the president, chief operating officer of the company and ultimately the CEO in 2001. He is a co-chairman of Business Roundtable. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a director at IBM.

Ephren W. Taylor II: Taylor (26) is not only the youngest African American CEO but also the youngest American CEO ever. He was named as the CEO of City Capital Corporation in 2006. He has a lot of experience as he started his own business at a very young age. He is described as 'walking history'. He is truly multi-talented; he is not only the CEO but also a philanthropist, author, inspirational speaker and a national T.V host.

Clarence Otis Jr.: He was born on April 11,1956 in Mississippi. In his career of 12 years with Darden Restaurants, he has held many positions like vice president, treasurer, senior vice president-finance, chief financial officer, president, Smokey Bones Unit. Owing to his talent and hard-work, he became the CEO of Darden Restaurants in 2004. He has worked and excelled in many fields such as law, investment, banking, co-operate finance and operations management. The experience in these diverse fields has won him the no.1 ranking in Fortune 500 company's African American CEO list.

Ronald A. Williams: He joined Aetna Inc. in 2001 and within 5 years, became the CEO of the company. Aetna Inc. is one of the biggest health care industries in the U.S. He has done his graduation in psychology from Roosevelt University. He has a masters degree from MIT Sloan School of Management. He is also the one of the board of directors of the American Express and the Vice-chairman of Business Council.

Ursula M. Burns: Ursula (51) is currently the president of Xerox corporation. Her service as the CEO of Xerox Corp. commences from 1st July, 2009. She first joined Xerox as a mechanical engineer in 1980. She has been with the company through thick and thin. She has done her bachelors in science and M.S in mechanical engineering. This super-talented lady is the first African American lady in Fortune 500 company list.

Rodney O'Neal: Rodney (55) is serving as the CEO and president of Delphi Corp. since 2007. In his 12-year career with Delphi, he has held many managerial positions.

Steven A. Davis: This 50 year old corporate elite has been the CEO and chairman of Bob Evan Farms since 2006.

Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.: He has been the president and CEO of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, College Retirement Equities Fund since 2008. He was formerly the head of financial services and chairman at Swiss Re America Holding Corp.

Gary McCullough: Highly experienced Gary has been the CEO and president of Career Education Corporation since 2007.

The common myth that the 'whites are more intelligent than the blacks' has been proved wrong by these corporate elites. Their achievements speak volumes about their work.