Descartes' Board of Directors has named Edward J. Ryan to the role of Chief Executive Officer in accordance with its leadership succession plan. In addition, the Board also appointed Scott Pagan as President and Chief Operating Officer.

“We congratulate both Ed and Scott on their well-deserved promotions. We’re highly confident in the strong leadership that they will continue to bring to Descartes,” said Dr. Stephen Watt, Lead Director of Descartes’ Board of Directors. “Their appointments reflect the company’s succession plan and are based on Ed’s and Scott’s proven ability to deliver over the last thirteen years. Together, they have successfully led Descartes’ day-to-day operations for the past several years.”

Ed replaces Arthur Mesher as Descartes’ CEO. Art served as Descartes’ CEO since 2004, after joining the company as Executive Vice President, Strategic Development, in 1998. Art has retired as CEO and Chairman of the Board. Dr. Watt added, “We appreciate all of Art’s contributions to Descartes’ development over his 15 years of service with the company, including the strong management team that he assembled and groomed. We wish Art and his family well.”

Descartes’ goal of uniting the people and technology that move the world remains unchanged. Thanks to the loyalty and support of our customers and partners, our business has expanded across more than 160 countries and grown to more than 10,000 customers and 171,000 connected parties who we serve every day. We have become a global logistics solutions leader with a strong financial foundation through a relentless focus on our customers’ needs, a commitment to innovation, and a proven track record of execution.

We are excited about this next phase in Descartes' history. Our entire organization looks forward to continuing to deliver leading-edge solutions that help improve the performance, productivity and security of logistics-intensive business around the world. 

For more information, please visit https://www.descartes.com/resources/news/descartes-appoints-edward-j-ryan-chief-executive-officer.