Richard D. Fain is chairman and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the global cruise company operating 17 ships under the Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International brand names.
Fain joined Royal Caribbean in 1979, serving as an outside director on the company's Board of Directors. He became increasingly involved in the management of the company in the late 1980s, and was named chairman and CEO of the cruise operator in 1988.
Fain joined Royal Caribbean from Gotaas-Larsen Shipping Corp., a London-based owner and operator of cargo ships. During a 13-year tenure, he served as treasurer, chief financial officer, and later became joint managing director.
Fain is the 1999 co-chair of the United Way Campaign of Dade County, and was the Chair of the 1999 POW WOW Host Committee in Miami. In other community roles, he serves on the University of Miami Board of Trustees, the Board of Trustees of Temple Beth Am, The National Conference of Christians and Jews' Florida Society of Trustees, and as the past chairman and current vice chair of the International Council of Cruise Lines. He served as chair of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau for two years, from 1995-1996. He is on the Board of Directors for The South Florida Annenberg Challenge. He is a director of the Assuranceforeningen Gard, a Norway-based insurance underwriting firm. And, he is a member of the World Wildlife Fund National Council, a member of the Council of 100, and the Alliance for Ethical Government.
Honors include 1999 Statesman of the Year of the Wharton School Club of South Florida, 1998 Humanitarian of the Year by the American Red Cross of Greater Miami and the Keys, Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (French Legion of Honor). This year he will receive the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith Distinguished Community Service Award.
Fain holds a B.S. degree in economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Fain and his wife, Colleen, have four children and reside in Miami-Dade County, Florida.