Edwin D. “Ed” Fuller
President
Laguna Strategic Advisors LLC
Former President
Marriott International Lodging

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

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. His experience included Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, two North American regional operations, and global leadership as President & Managing Director of Marriott International. Ed was the executive in charge of global operations, expansion of international lodging, crisis management, top-level customer relationship management, sales and marketing leadership, and long-term strategy development. As President, he applied corporate philosophies, delivered on brand promises, and ensured ethical decisions. His results included the creation of 80,000 new jobs worldwide, the formation and operation of 555 hotels in seventy-three countries, $8 billion in annual sales, and the implementation of multiple security, environmental, philanthropic, and educational initiatives.

Ed Fuller’s colorful and real-world 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 the co-author of The Red Hotel series, with the first of the thriller novels published in March 2019 by Beaufort Books. The second novel in the series, “Red Deception” in 2021, followed by “Red Chaos” in 2023. The fourth book, “Red Ultimatum” will follow in Fall 2024, with “Red Succession” dropping in late 2025.

Mr. Fuller served as a Captain in the U.S. Army and was awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal and several service medals. His first assignment was to Trans-com in Frankfurt, Germany, where he was assigned to the airport operations for the Army/Navy. Afterward, he was sent to Vietnam where he was assigned to MAC-V, the military assistance command in military region 2.

Over the years, in addition to his business world experience, Ed Fuller has focused his energies on supporting educational and corporate social responsibility activities. An active alumnus of Boston University, he is the 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 and continues to be a member of the board. He is 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 a member of Boston University’s Scarlet Key and the William Fairfield Warren Society. Ed attended Harvard’s School of Business in Cambridge, Mass and is also a member of Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity and Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

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 of the Merage School of Business. He is also a current member of the Chancellor’s CEO Roundtable. He was formerly a member of the Chancellor’s business and leadership guidance team. Since 2013, he has been an adjunct professor of Globalization in the Paul Merage School of Business at University California, Irvine for master’s and undergraduate programs. He also served as an adjunct professor in 2013 at Boston University and the same year adjunct professor at Cal Poly Pomona and San Diego State University.

At California State University, he serves as a member of the Chancellor’s Hospitality Management & Tourism Advisory Board and currently is an executive committee member. He is a former director of the University’s San Marcos Foundation. He served on the Advisory Board for California State University at Fullerton. Ed 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, served for seven years on the Safe Kids Worldwide Board, and serves on the Althea Foundation Board. He was formerly a Board member of the Pacific Area Travel Association Foundation and of United Way International.

Ed Fuller is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Orange County (California) Visitors Association. Since 2008, he has been a Commissioner for Travel & Tourism for the State of California, and in 2013, he joined the staff of Visit California. Ed served on the US Travel Association Board of Directors for four years. He also served as Chairman and Trustee of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation for nine years.

He serves as a Board Member of The Mind Research Institute Inc. in Irvine for 9 years. He is currently Chairman of the Board for MIND Research Inc. 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 a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigators National Academy Associates Foundation (FBINAA) and Commissioner Emeritus of Visit California in 2016.

His professional contributions have been lauded globally, including being presented with the University of Nevada Las Vegas 2013 Hospitality Industry Leader of the Year Award. In 1989, he received the Chairman’s Award from Marriott International, Inc. In 2008, he was recognized and presented with the China Hotel Investment Summit Lifetime Achievement Award in Beijing. In 2010, he was bestowed the Hotel Investment India Adithya Award in New Delhi, and in 2012, he was presented the International Hotel Investment Lifetime Achievement Award in Berlin. Ed received The Merit Key Award from SAE in 2015. He received the Hospitality, Sales and Marketing Association International 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award in New York City. In 2020, from Delta Sigma Pi, he was awarded the Career Achievement Award.

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 tech industry, and his daughter Elizabeth Allphin and her husband Alex live in the San Diego area with their two children Cameron and Nolan. In his spare time, he likes writing, spending time with his family, and reading about history and current events.