Born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1935, Herbert Dwight Kelleher is the co-founder, Chairman Emeritus, and past CEO of Southwest Airlines. He has a BA from Wesleyan University and a JD from New York University.
With the intention of beginning a law firm Kelleher moved his family to Texas. There he met businessman Rollin King, who was a client of his. One day in a restaurant in San Antonia King illustrated on a cocktail napkin the idea which later became Southwest Airlines.
Bringing the airline to reality was a daunting task which took a full year of legal challenges from competitors trying to prevent the airline from getting off the ground. In 1971 Southwest took to the air, and succeeded by being different.
Kelleher retired from the chairmanship of the company and resigned from the board in May, 2008. In July 2010 Kelleher was named Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas board of Directors for 2011.
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