Leadership

Lydia Kennard

President and CEO

Lydia Kennard, President and CEO, has a professional career that has spanned corporate law, real estate development, and urban planning. She holds a juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School, a master’s degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning and Management from Stanford University. Most notably, Ms. Kennard was appointed as the Executive Director of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) from 1999 through 2003 and again from 2005 to early 2007. During her tenure with LAWA, Ms. Kennard oversaw and managed the country’s second largest airport system, which included four airports, a staff of more than 3,000 people, and an annual budget of nearly $1 billion.

Over her career, Ms. Kennard has served as a director and trustee for several publicly traded companies and nonprofit organizations. Ms. Kennard served as a Trustee for the University of Southern California from 2005 until her election as a Life Trustee of the University in June 2020. She currently serves as a director for several companies, including Prologis, Freeport-McMoRan, Vulcan Materials Company, and AECOM, and as a founding director of the nonprofit UniHealth Foundation, has served on its board continuously since 1998.