Mary Dillon (born 1961/62) is an American businesswoman and CEO of

Foot Locker Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an Americans, American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries. Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in ...

. She was the CEO of

Ulta Beauty Ulta Beauty, Inc., formerly known as Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. and before 2000 as Ulta3, is an American chain of beauty stores headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Ulta Beauty carries both high-end and low-end cosmetics, fragran ...

, a beauty retail company, from July 2013 until June 2021, when she became chair. She was global chief marketing officer and executive vice president of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

from 2005 to 2010. She was CEO and president of

U.S. Cellular United States Cellular Corporation (doing business as UScellular) is an American mobile network operator. It is a subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems Inc. (which owns an 84% stake). The company was formed in 1983 and is headquartered in ...

from 2010 to 2013. Dillon is a non-executive director of

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

. In May 2019, Dillon announced plans for Ulta to expand its business internationally, beginning with store openings in Canada. Dillon has a bachelor's degree in Marketing and Asian Studies from the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a Public university, public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus esta ...

. Dillon was named one of

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

's most powerful women in 2016. In 2016 she became a trustee of the

Save the Children Federation Save the Children Federation, Inc., commonly known as Save the Children USA, is a non-profit organization working to improve the lives of children in the United States and around the world. Their headquarters is located in Fairfield, Connectic ...

. In October 2018, she was awarded the Sandra Taub Humanitarian Award for philanthropic leadership. In June 2019, Dillon was named one of Barron's best CEOs.

Early life

Dillon was born in Chicago and is the fourth among six siblings. Her father worked as a steel worker while her mother was a housewife. She studied college at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

and worked various jobs such as a waitress, a house cleaner, and a bank teller, to acquire money for her tuition. She earned her bachelor's degree in marketing in 1983.

References

1960s births Starbucks people Women corporate directors American corporate directors 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesswomen Living people American women chief executives University of Illinois Chicago alumni {{US-CEO-stub