Ford Motor Co. President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally is a Lawrence native.

Former Ford Motor Co. President and CEO Alan Mulally, a University of Kansas graduate, will speak this week at KU.

Mulally is scheduled to present the KU School of Business Anderson Chandler Lecture, “Creating Value,” at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Lied Center. The event is free and open to the public.

He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from KU, according to an announcement from the KU business school. He also earned a master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow.

His professional experience spans both engineering and the automotive industry.

Mulally led Ford from 2006 to 2014, when he retired. Previously he was executive vice president of Boeing Co., president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and president of Boeing Information, Space and Defense Systems.

Among Mulally’s most visible recognitions: being named No. 3 on Fortune’s “World’s Greatest Leaders” list and one of the “World’s Most Influential People” by TIME magazine. 

He has received numerous other honors, including being inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in July. He also serves on numerous boards, including President Barack Obama’s Export Council, and is a past president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a past board chairman of the Governors of the Aerospace Industries Association.

Mulally grew up in Lawrence, graduated from Lawrence High School, and has made public appearances in town several times while the head of Ford.

In 2010 he spoke at the Lawrence Schools Foundation Community Education Breakfast. He spoke to engineering and other students at KU in 2009. He also visited KU in 2008 to accept the Kappa Sigma fraternity’s 2007 Man of the Year award.

“We are proud to welcome Alan Mulally back to his alma mater to deliver the 2016 Anderson Chandler Lecture,” interim KU business dean James Guthrie, said. “This accomplished Jayhawk is one of the world’s great business leaders, and we look forward to hearing his insights on ‘Creating Value.'”

KU’s previous Chandler lecturers have included Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, FBI agent and KU School of Business alumnus Robert Herndon, and former Kansas Gov. Bill Graves.

The business school is presenting Mulally’s talk in partnership with the KU School of Engineering’s Self Engineering Leadership Fellows Program.