The man who revolutionized the way parcels are delivered by air and on the ground, FedEx chief executive Frederick W. Smith, has been selected to receive the Aero Club’s 2010 Howard Hughes Memorial Award.

ACSC President Nissen Davis announced that the award banquet will be held March 1, 2011 at the Jonathan Club in downtown Los Angeles. He said Smith, who will become the 32nd recipient of the coveted silver medallion, was selected by a committee of former Hughes Award honorees.

A Mississippi native and former Marine, Fred Smith founded Federal Express (now called FedEx) in 1971. Under Smith’s guidance, the company has grown into a business services and logistics giant that today operates 664 aircraft and more than 80,000 ground vehicles. Its fleet of large and small jets flies daily in and out of 375 airports around the planet, using Memphis as the U.S. hub and corporate headquarters.

Two major California companies, air cargo carrier Flying Tigers and office services innovator Kinko's, became part of FedEx under Smith’s leadership. The $35 billion company’s 280,000 people worldwide handle over eight million shipments each business day.

Details of the March 1 award ceremony and banquet will be announced soon on the Events Calendar page of this website.