Biography: Gary C. Kelly

Episode 405:
HIGH ENERGY:
Putting the Brakes on Fuel and Transportation Costs

Featured Guest:
Gary C. Kelly, CEO
Southwest Airlines

Gary Kelly is Vice Chairman of the Board and CEO of Southwest Airlines Co., the nation's largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers boarded.

Gary began his career with Southwest in June 1986 as Controller. He was promoted to Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Finance, in 1989, and to Executive Vice President in 2001. Gary was named Vice Chairman and CEO in July 2004.

Gary has a rich financial background. Prior to working at Southwest, he was Audit Manager for Arthur Young & Company in Dallas, Texas. He also has worked in mainframe software development as a Controller for Systems Center, Inc., now part of Sterling Software, in Irving, Texas.

Gary received a B.B.A. in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and also is a Certified Public Accountant.

His financial organization affiliations include Financial Executives Institute, Southern Methodist University Finance Association, Working Council for Chief Financial Officers Corporate Executive Board, and Texas Society for CPA's. Gary also serves on the Accounting Advisory Boards at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at Dallas.

Gary and his wife, Carol, have two children: Caroline and Elizabeth.