Farooq Kathwari
President, CEO, and Chairman, Ethan Allen Interiors
Farooq Kathwari is the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. He has been president of the company since 1985, and chairman and chief executive officer since 1988. In 1989, he formed a group to purchase Ethan Allen; following a restructuring period, he took the company public again in 1993. Under Mr. Kathwari's leadership, Ethan Allen has been transformed into a leading interior design company whose vertically integrated business model feeds its success.
He holds a B.A. degree in English Literature and Political Science from Kashmir University and an M.B.A. in International Marketing from New York University.
Mr. Kathwari is a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; director and former chairman of Refugees International; a director of the International Rescue Committee; director of the Henry L. Stimson Center; chairman of the Kashmir Study Group, an organization he founded in 1996; member of the Council on Foreign Relations; a director and former chairman of the National Retail Federation; a director and former chairman and president of the American Home Furnishings Alliance; and a board member of ArtsWestchester. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Western Connecticut State University Foundation board.
Among his many industry and humanitarian honors, he has been inducted into the American Furniture Hall of Fame; recognized by the U.S. Government as an Outstanding American by Choice; the recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal and the National Retail Federation gold medal; recognized by the U.S. Association for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for his dedication to raising awareness of the plight of refugees worldwide; named one of Worth magazine's "Best CEOs in the United States"; and honored by the International Center in New York and ArtsWestchester. He has also received honorary degrees from Tufts University, Western Connecticut State University and Sacred Heart University.
His awards include the Spirit of Asian American Award from the Asian American Federation of New York, the EPIIC Global Citizenship Award from Tufts University, the National Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee, the American Muslim Achievement Award from the Islamic Center of Southern California, the International First Freedom Award from the Council for America's First Freedom, Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Humanitarian Award from the Anti-Defamation League, and the Corporate Leadership Award from the South Asian Bar Association of New York.
