Richard C. Adkerson is Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Freeport-McMoRan Inc.
He graduated from Mississippi State University with a B.S. degree in Accounting with highest honors and an M.B.A. degree. In 2010, he received an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Mississippi State. He also completed the Advanced Management Program of the Harvard Business School in 1988. Prior to joining Freeport-McMoRan in 1989, he was Partner and Managing Director in Arthur Andersen Co. where he headed the Firm's Worldwide Oil and Gas Industry Practice. From 1976 to 1978, he was a Professional Accounting Fellow with the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Adkerson is a current member and past Chairman of the International Council on Mining and Metals. He is a member of The Business Council, the Business Roundtable and the Council on Foreign Relations. He serves on the Advisory Council of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States and as a member of the Clinton Global Initiative. He serves on the Arizona Commerce Authority, Greater Phoenix Leadership, the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and the Dean's Council of 100 for the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business. He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National WWII Museum, serves on the Board of Visitors of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and was Campaign Chair of the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, Cancer Has Met Its Match Campaign in Phoenix. He is a member of the Mississippi State University Foundation Board of Directors and served as its President. He chaired Mississippi State's “State of the Future” capital campaign and serves on the University's Advisory Board of the College of Business. He was named National Alumnus of the Year of Mississippi State University in 2011. He was inducted into the American Mining Hall of Fame in 2010, received The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers Charles F. Rand Memorial Award in 2011 and was named Copper Man of the Year 2009 by The Copper Club. He was named Executive of the Year by W.P. Carey School of Business Dean's Council at Arizona State University in 2011. He has been named Best CEO in Metals and Mining by Institutional Investor magazine every year since 2008. Mr. Adkerson has served on the FCX Board since 2006.
