Jim Whitehurst

Jim Whitehurst (born 1966/1967 (age 49–50)) is the Chief Executive Officer at Red Hat. Prior to that, he was a Chief Operating Officer of Delta Air Lines. Whitehurst was tapped by former Delta CEO Gerald Grinstein to lead the airline out of bankruptcy and played a critical role in Delta's battle for survival against the hostile takeover attempt by US Airways in 2006.

Whitehurst became a very popular figure during the campaign to Keep Delta My Delta because of his transparent honesty and genuine affection for the company and its heritage. Some have speculated that his fierce defense of Delta worked against him as Delta's Board sought a successor to CEO Grinstein in 2007. Before his appointment as COO of Delta, Whitehurst served as Senior Vice President and Chief Network and Planning Officer for the company.

Prior to joining Delta in 2002, he served as Vice President and Director of The Boston Consulting Group and held various management roles at its Chicago, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Atlanta offices.

In 2013, the Governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory, appointed Whitehurst as a member and vice-chairman of the North Carolina Economic Development Board.

In 2014, Whitehurst was selected as the recipient of the NC State Park Scholarships program's William C. Friday Award.

A native of Columbus, Georgia, Whitehurst graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas, with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Economics. He also attended Erlangen Nuremberg University in Erlangen, Germany, holds a general course degree from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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