Red Cavaney, prior to joining API in 1997, was involved in association management for fourteen years as president and CEO of three other trade associations: the American Plastics Council (APC), the American Forest and Paper Association (AFPA), and the American Paper Institute (API). Earlier, he served as president and CEO of Irvine, CA-based Ericson Yachts, a major U.S. yacht manufacturer, and as a senior member of the White House staffs of U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon.
Cavaney is a director of API, The United States Energy Association, Rebuilding Together, Strategic Partnerships LLC, and Buckeye Technologies, Inc. (NYSE). He is also a former director of the boards of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), among others. He has served as chairman of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), the Associations Division of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the NAM Council of Manufacturing Associations. Cavaney also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation and the Center for Excellence in Education.
Cavaney has earned a Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation, was named 1997 Association Executive of the Year by Association Trends magazine, and is the recipient of the 2005 Bryce Harlow Foundation Business-Government Relations Award and the 2006 ASAE Key Award. He is a 1964 NROTC graduate in Economics and History from the University of Southern California, served three tours of combat duty in Vietnam, and was honorably discharged with the rank of U.S. Navy Lieutenant in 1969. He resides in Alexandria, Virginia.
