A 1973 industrial engineering graduate, Richard Snead, returned to Miami upon graduation as an engineer to work with a construction company. He worked his way up to project manager, where his primary area of responsibility was constructing buildings for the restaurant industry, and Burger King was one of his major clients. Burger King offered him a position as manager of its building program, and during his 15 years with Burger King, he advanced to president of the international division. He then became senior vice president of store operations and retail for the Casual Corner Group Inc., from which he moved to be president of LensCrafters for new business development and head of international development.
Carlson Worldwide Companies recruited him in 1997 to be president of its international division and then promoted him to president and CEO of Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, which included the T.G.I. Friday’s and Pick Up Stix brands. Carlson Worldwide, the owner of Carlson Restaurants, is one of the largest privately held companies in the world. The company got its start as the issuer of Gold Bond trading stamps in 1938 and changed its name to Carlson Companies in 1973. T.G.I. Friday’s opened its first restaurant in New York City in 1965.
Snead retired as president and CEO in February 2009. At UT he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.