Donald Vester Fites (born 1934) was the chairman and CEO of

Caterpillar, Inc. Caterpillar Inc. (stock symbol CAT) is an American ''Fortune'' 500 corporation and the world's largest construction-equipment manufacturer. In 2018, Caterpillar was ranked number 65 on the ''Fortune'' 500 list and number 238 on the Global ''Fo ...

from 1990 to 1999.

Early life

Don Fites was born in 1934 in

Tippecanoe, Indiana Tippecanoe is an unincorporated community in Tippecanoe Township, Marshall County, Indiana, United States. History Tippecanoe was settled beginning in 1882. The original town was located 1 mile to the north and was platted as Tippecanoe Town in 1 ...

. He attended

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is a Lutheran university with about 3,000 students from over 50 countries on a campus of . Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso Universit ...

, where he joined

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...

. He graduated with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

in 1956, and soon after joined Caterpillar. He attended

in 1956. He then attended the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, ...

as a

Sloan Fellow The Sloan Fellows program is the world's first mid-career and senior career master's degree in general management and leadership. It was initially supported by a grant from Alfred P. Sloan, the late CEO of General Motors, to his alma mater, MIT ...

, and received his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in 1971.

Career

He attained the position of vice president at Caterpillar in 1981, and then executive vice president in 1985. 1990 marked Don's elevation to the positions of chief executive officer and chairman of the board, which he held until he reached the mandatory retirement age in 1999.

References

External links

My Salvation Army Board - National Advisory Board MembersAn Interview with Donald V. Fites
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fites, Donald V. People from Tippecanoe County, Indiana People from Peoria, Illinois Valparaiso University alumni MIT Sloan School of Management alumni MIT Sloan Fellows Caterpillar Inc. people Living people 1934 births