Edward W. Stack, Executive Chairman, Dick's Sporting Goods
It’s How We Play The Game: How DICK’S Built Its Business From a Small Bait and Tackle Shop to America’s Largest Sporting Goods Retailer
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
5:30 - 6:30 p.m. EST
CMU, Simmons A, Tepper Quad, 4765 Forbes Avenue
Ed Stack is the executive chairman of DICK'S Sporting Goods, the largest, omni-channel sporting goods retailer in the United States. In addition to overseeing merchandising for the company, Ed leads several of DICK'S key strategic growth initiatives.
From 1984 through January 2021, Ed served as the company's chairman and chief executive officer. He led the company through a remarkable period of growth, guiding the company's evolution from two stores in upstate New York to a Fortune 500 company with more than 850 DICK'S Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy, Public Lands and Going, Going, Gone! stores.
A passionate advocate for youth sports, Ed has led DICK'S Sporting Goods' efforts to help more than one million young athletes across the country play sports through support from DICK'S and The DICK'S Sporting Goods Foundation's Sports Matter program, the largest such charitable initiative of its kind.
Following the tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida, he and the company made the decision to stop selling assault-style firearms and high-capacity magazines and raised the age to purchase any firearm to 21. He also appealed to Congress to make changes to the nation's gun laws. Ed has vowed to keep the conversation going around commonsense gun reform until meaningful change is realized.
For his work in business, leadership and advocacy, Ed has received numerous accolades. In 2020, he received the CeaseFirePA Keystone Courage Award, a Corporate Citizenship Award from the Committee on Economic Development at The Conference Board and a Courage in the Boardroom award from the Corporate Board Member organization. He has been recognized as one of the most influential business leaders in Pittsburgh by the Pittsburgh Business Times (January 2020) and a Pittsburgh person of the year by Pittsburgh City Paper (December 2019). He also was honored with the Maverick in Leadership Award by The Yale School of Management's Chief Executive Leadership Institute (June 2019), recognized as a Force for Good from the CECP: The CEO Board of Boards (February 2019) and named a Groundbreaker by The New York Times at its 2018 DealBook Conference.
Ed is the author of It's How We Play the Game: Build a Business. Take a Stand. Make a Difference. He serves on the board of directors of the National Retail Federation and the advisory board of Wharton's Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative. He is also a member of Everytown Business Leaders for Gun Safety. Ed formerly served on the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Seton Hall University Board of Trustees and the KeyCorp Board of Directors. Ed earned his Bachelor of Arts and Science degree in accounting from St. John Fisher College.