Gayle Fuguitt

Ms. Fuguitt is responsible for leading the ARF into its next chapter, navigating the many changes sweeping through the advertising, marketing, research and consumer engagement community. As the leader of the ARF, an organization with a 75-year history and more than 400 members, Ms. Fuguitt serves as the voice of the industry and a champion for its global growth. Prior to being named president and CEO in April 2013, she had served as a board and executive committee member of the ARF since 2005, and continues in these positions.

Ms. Fuguitt previously spent 32 years at General Mills, where she was most recently VP-Global Consumer Insights for over 17 years managing a $150m annual research budget. At General Mills and throughout her career, she has emphasized shifting professional research’s value proposition from execution to strategy, complementing traditional data reporting with predictive analytics, and ensuring that research is recognized as a board room function that best represents the voice of the consumer.

With a career track record of sponsoring innovation, Ms. Fuguitt often has been at the forefront of industry change, keenly spotting opportunities and trends. In 1998, she shifted 85 percent of General Mills' research budget online, at a time when such a move was controversial within the industry. Additionally, Ms. Fuguitt invested in research entrepreneurship by partnering with the CRO and Treasurer to establish a General Mills venture fund for start-up research companies including MarketTools and Iconoculture. Over $70m was invested.

Ms. Fuguitt is currently a member of Wharton’s Future of Advertising Advisory Board, a member of Ehrenberg Bass’ Advisory Board and a Trustee of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

She is a former board member of Converseon, a social media agency, MarketTools from 1999-2011 and Iconculture for eight years and was a founding board member and Chair of the AC Nielsen Center for Market Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and member of UW Madison School of Business Board.

Ms. Fuguitt holds a Master of Business administration degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and two bachelor's degrees – in economics and industrial relations – from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She lives in New York City with her husband.