2023 HHMA Recipient

Laurans A. Mendelson is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of New York Stock Exchange–listed HEICO Corporation. Florida-based HEICO was cited by Forbes magazine as one of the 100 Best Small Companies in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. In 2015, Forbes named HEICO one of America’s Most Innovative Growth Companies, and in 2016, one of America’s 100 Most Trustworthy Companies.

In 2006, HEICO received the South Florida Good to Great Award in the large company category. In 2012, the company was honored with the Beacon Council Aviation Award, the ACG South Florida Award for Outstanding Corporate Growth, and the American Dreamer Award from Hispanic Unity of Florida. In January 2017, Institutional Investor magazine named HEICO to its All-America Executive Team and recognized Laurans A. Mendelson as the Best CEO in the Aerospace & Defense Electronics sector.

On July 14, 2017, Emmanuel Macron, President of the République Française, named Mr. Mendelson a Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor. On March 3, 2018, HEICO Corporation and the Mendelson Family received the Henry M. Flagler Award from the History Miami Museum, and on December 11, 2018, the Mendelson Family was honored with the AJC National Human Relations Award. In 2021, Florida Trend magazine named Mr. Mendelson a “Living Legend” and one of Florida’s most influential business leaders. On April 24, 2022, the United Way of Miami honored the Mendelson Family with the Tocqueville Award for outstanding philanthropy.

Mr. Mendelson was named one of the Top 100 Business Leaders by the South Florida Business Journal in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. He is Trustee Emeritus of Columbia University in the City of New York and received the John Jay Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement from Columbia College. He is also the recipient of the Wright Brothers Award, the Greater Miami Aviation Association’s premier honor recognizing extraordinary and lifelong contributions to the aviation industry.

He serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the Aerospace Industries Association in Washington, D.C., and is past Chairman of the Board of Trustees, as well as a member of the Executive Committee and the Society of Mount Sinai Founders, of Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. He received the Greater Hollywood (Florida) Chamber of Commerce 1998 Private Sector Community Service Award and the 1999 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Mr. Mendelson has been a distinguished guest lecturer in the Executive Forum of the MBA Program at Florida Atlantic University’s College of Business and served as commencement speaker at the December 9, 2018 graduation ceremony of the Florida International University College of Engineering.

Mr. Mendelson earned his AB degree from Columbia College in the City of New York in 1960 and his MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business in 1961. HEICO Corporation is used as a business case study at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.