Edwin D. “Ed” Fuller

Former President / Managing Director
Marriott International Lodging

A hospitality industry leader, educator, and best-selling author, Ed Fuller is President of California-based Laguna Strategic Advisors, a global consortium that provides business consulting services and strategic opportunities worldwide.

Culminating with his service as Marriott International’s President & Managing Director of International Lodging for 22 years, Mr. Fuller’s distinguished, performance-driven corporate career spanned four decades with Marriott. During this time, he traveled 14 million miles by air. His experience included serving as chief sales and marketing officer, leading North American regional operations, and ultimately providing global leadership as President & Managing Director of Marriott International Lodging. Ed was the executive in charge of global operations, international lodging expansion, crisis management, top-level customer relationship management, sales and marketing leadership, and long-term strategic development. As President, he applied corporate philosophies, delivered on brand promises, and ensured ethical decision-making throughout the organization. His accomplishments included the creation of 80,000 new jobs worldwide, the development and operation of 555 hotels in seventy-three countries, generating $8 billion in annual sales, and implementing numerous security, environmental, philanthropic, and educational initiatives.

Ed Fuller’s real-world leadership experiences are recounted in his top-twenty best-selling business book, “You Can’t Lead with Your Feet on the Desk,” published globally in English, Chinese, and Japanese by John Wiley & Co. in 2011. He is also the co-author of The Red Hotel series. The first thriller novel in the series was published in March 2019 by Laguna Hills Publishing, followed by “Red Deception” in 2021, “Red Chaos” in 2023, “Red Ultimatum” in 2025, and “Red Alert” in 2026.

Mr. Fuller served as a Captain in the U.S. Army and was awarded the Bronze Star, the Army Commendation Medal, and several additional service medals. His first assignment was to Transcom in Frankfurt, Germany, where he was assigned to airport operations for the Army and Navy. He was later sent to Vietnam, where he was assigned to MAC-V, the Military Assistance Command in Military Region II.

Over the years, in addition to his business leadership experience, Ed Fuller has focused his energies on supporting educational and corporate social responsibility initiatives. An active alumnus of Boston University, he is a former Vice Chairman of its Board of Overseers, former President of the University’s Alumni Association, and a former Trustee. He served as Chairman of its Hospitality Advisory Board for 12 years, continues to serve as a member of that board, and is also a member of the Boston University President’s International Advisory Board. In 1998, he received the Alumni Award, the University’s highest honor for alumni. He is also a member of Boston University’s Scarlet Key and the William Fairfield Warren Society. While attending Boston University, he became a member of Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity and Sigma Alpha Epsilon, affiliations he continues to maintain today. Ed attended Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and continues to serve as class secretary today. Ed and Michela Fuller are proud supporters of Fuller’s BU Pub located on the campus for all students and alumni.

He has served at the University of California, Irvine, as a former Trustee of the University’s Foundation and former Chairman of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Merage School of Business. He is also a current member of the Chancellor’s CEO Roundtable and formerly served on the Chancellor’s Business and Leadership Guidance Team. He was an adjunct professor of Globalization in the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine, teaching both graduate and undergraduate programs. In 2013, he also served as an adjunct professor at Boston University, Cal Poly Pomona, and San Diego State University.

At California State University, he served as a member of the Chancellor’s Hospitality Management & Tourism Advisory Board. He is a former director of the University’s San Marcos Foundation and also served on the Advisory Board for California State University, Fullerton. Ed later became an Emeritus member of the Travel Industry Management School Advisory Board at the University of Hawaii.

He is a former Trustee of The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, where he also chaired the Governing Board of the International Tourism Partnership for eight years. He served for seven years on the Safe Kids Worldwide Board and formerly served on the Althea Foundation Board. He was also formerly a board member of the Pacific Asia Travel Association Foundation and United Way International.

Ed Fuller is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Orange County (California) Visitors Association. Since 2008, he has served as a Commissioner and now serves as an advisor for Visit California. Ed also served on the U.S. Travel Association Board of Directors for four years and served as Chairman and Trustee of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation for nine years.

He served as Chairman of the Board and later continued as a board member of The Mind Research Institute in Irvine for ten years. Ed is also a former member of the Advisory Board of the Merage Investment Group, a former advisory board member of Concord Hotels, and currently serves as a board member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy Associates Charitable Foundation (FBINAA). He has also served as a Commissioner Emeritus of Visit California since 2016.

His professional contributions have been recognized globally. At Marriott, he received several awards and was also presented with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2013 Hospitality Industry Leader of the Year Award. In 1989, he received Marriott International’s Chairman’s Award. In 2008, he was presented with the China Hotel Investment Summit Lifetime Achievement Award in Beijing. In 2010, he received the Hotel Investment India Adithya Award in New Delhi, and in 2012, he was honored with the International Hotel Investment Lifetime Achievement Award in Berlin. Ed received The Merit Key Award from Sigma Alpha Epsilon in 2015 and, in 2018, received the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International Lifetime Achievement Award in New York City. In 2020, Delta Sigma Pi presented him with its Career Achievement Award. In 2025, he received the ALIS Lifetime Achievement Award in Los Angeles. In 2026, Ed was awarded the Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor presented by Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

He currently lives in Southern California with his wife, Michela, and their standard poodle, Candy. His son, Scott Dimond, works in San Francisco in the technology industry, and his daughter, Elizabeth Allphin, and her husband, Alex, live in the San Diego area with their three children, Cameron, Nolan, and Logan. In his spare time, Ed enjoys writing, spending time with his family, and reading about history and current events.