David B. Dillon (born March 30, 1951) was the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO) of

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincin ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Early life

Born in 1951 in

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch". As of the 2020 cen ...

, Dillon graduated from Hutchinson High School in 1969. Dillon is an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

and was a senior patrol leader in Boy Scout Troop 301, of which his father was

Scoutmaster A Scout leader or Scouter generally refers to the trained adult leader of a Scout unit. The terms used vary from country to country, over time, and with the type of unit. Roles There are many different roles a leader can fulfill depending on t ...

. J.S. Dillon, Dillon's great-grandfather, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

pastor, started a self-service grocery store in

Sterling, Kansas Sterling is a city in Rice County, Kansas, Rice County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,248. Sterling is home to Sterling College (Kansas), Sterling College. History ...

. His sons, including David's grandfather, continued growing the enterprise into a chain of stores. David's father, Paul, along with two cousins, guided the corporation in the next generation when Dillon Stores became a public corporation. It was headquartered in Hutchinson, 20 miles from Sterling.

Education

Dillon attended the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

, where he was student body president and initiated into

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

. Dillon also attended

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

Career

Dillon worked for Dillons Stores with various leadership roles in the company. In 1982, Kroger bought out Dillon Stores. In 1990, Dillon was named the Vice President of Kroger. In 2003, Dillon became the CEO of Kroger. Dillon succeeded its previous CEO Joe Pichler. It was announced on September 20, 2013 that Dillon would be retiring as CEO of Kroger effective January 1, 2014. Dillon was succeeded as CEO by

Rodney McMullen William Rodney McMullen (born 1961) is an American businessman who has been the CEO of Kroger, the third-largest general retailer in the US, since January 1, 2014. Early life McMullen was born in Pineville, Kentucky on his family-owned farm, and ...

, a COO of Kroger. Dillon remained on as Chairman of the Board through the end of 2014. Dillon sits on the board of directors of the

Consumer Goods Forum The Consumer Goods Forum is a global organization of 400 consumer goods companies with the likes of Amazon and Kellogg being involved. It represents combined sales of 2.5 trillion Euros across 70 countries and 10 million employees. Overview The C ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, David 1951 births American retail chief executives Kroger Living people People from Hutchinson, Kansas Southern Methodist University alumni University of Kansas alumni