Fadi Chehade named next chief of ICANN

Fadi Chehadé, a leader in the formation of progressive Internet enterprises, has been named as the next President and Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization that oversees internet domains.

“Fadi has an amazing track record of success and the obvious leadership qualities to help carry ICANN into the next stage of its evolution,” said Dr. Stephen Crocker, Chair of the Board of Directors. “His international background and multi-linguistic skills will help to make ICANN an ever more globally oriented organization. It’s hard to imagine how we could have found anyone better suited for the top position.”

Chehadé, age 50, is a citizen of Lebanon, Egypt and the United States. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to Egyptian parents and left the then war-torn country in 1980 at the age of 18. He speaks fluent Arabic English, French and Italian.

“I have spent most of my professional career building consensus among various stakeholders from around the world,” said Chehadé. “I am naturally humbled to now be able to lead an organization that defines itself by an international multi-stakeholder model and one that is the very core of the security and stability of the Internet.”

Chehadé succeeds current President and CEO Rod Beckstrom, who announced last August that he would leave ICANN at the end of his contract, which expires on 1 July. Chehadé will join ICANN on October 1 or earlier. Between July 1 and when Chehadé begins, Chief Operating Officer Akram Atallah will be the CEO.

“Akram will not simply be a place-holder,” said Crocker. “He will, in every sense of the phrase, be the Chief Executive Officer until Fadi joins us.”

Most recently, Fadi Chehadé served as CEO of Vocado LLC, a U.S. firm that provides next-generation cloud-based administrative software for educational institutions.

Prior to Vocado, Chehadé served as the General Manager of IBM’s Global Technology Services in the Middle East and North Africa. Based in Dubai, he led a team across an emerging region experiencing high growth. He also built and managed a new global business for IBM, providing managed services to large clients in telecommunications, aerospace and retail to improve the accuracy, depth and timeliness of business information visibility across demand and supply chains.

In 1998, as the founder and CEO of RosettaNet, Chehadé rallied business and government leaders across the globe to build consensus on e-Business process standards by capitalizing on the growing Internet connectivity between trading partners in the computer and telecommunications sectors. The firm’s transactions continue to span the industrial world and exceed $100 billion per year.

Chehadé is a graduate of Stanford University, where he earned a master’s degree in Engineering Management. He earlier earned a bachelor’s degree from Polytechnic University in New York, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.

Fadi Chehadé currently lives in Los Angeles, California where ICANN is headquartered.

14-27