Ron Smith serves as Executive Vice President in the firm’s Chicago office. He is also the Sector Leader of the Airline, Hospitality, Travel & Tourism industry. Prior to joining DHR International, he was President & Owner of R.M. Smith Associates, a boutique executive search firm. He brings with him over 35 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry. His areas of expertise include executive search, strategic planning, marketing, operations, finance, and organizational development. His strength is a combination of people and analytical skills garnered over many years, and he has kept up with changes in the business environment. Mr. Smith prides himself in understanding clients' needs, assessing people and leadership issues, and despite strong functional skills, is primarily a general manager oriented individual who sees the organizational perspectives. Prior to his career in executive search, Mr. Smith spent 30 years in high level executive positions. Previous experience includes his role as Principal and Vice President at Strand Associates (TeamSAI) consulting firm. Additionally, he was President of Preferred Hotels and Resorts, a global marketing organization of 108 luxury properties in North America, Europe, and Asia. He was also Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of ASTA, the American Society of Travel Agents, a 20,000+ member association of travel agents and industry suppliers. Prior to that assignment, he was Executive Vice President at Carlson Travel Group where he grew sales from $125 million to $500 million in three years. As Consultant to the Government of Western Australia, Mr. Smith co-authored a position paper on airline economic deregulation and grew international airline seats to Perth, W.A. by 20% after just one year of bilateral negotiations with international airlines from foreign countries. During his 20 years with United Airlines, he held various executive posts in finance, operations, sales, reservations and marketing. At age 34, Mr. Smith became one of the youngest Vice Presidents at a major airline. Mr. Smith was United's Vice President in Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Vice President, Marketing for United's Central Division in Chicago. His last position at United was Vice President, Sales for the $1.6 billion Eastern Division. Mr. Smith holds a B.S. in Business Administration and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University, and also attended the Stanford University Executive Program.