Hudson La Force

Biography

 Hudson joined Grace as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 2008. In that role, he focused on improving the company's profitability, cash flow, and return on invested capital.  During his tenure as CFO, gross margins increased eight percentage points, Adjusted EBITDA margins increased 11 percentage points, adjusted free cash flow increased nearly three times, and adjusted return on invested capital increased 11 percentage points. Hudson was deeply involved in Grace's internal transformation into a fully-integrated global operating company and its external transformation into two industry-leading public companies in February 2016. Prior to joining Grace, Hudson served as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Counselor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, where he led a transformation of the department's management practices. He also served as a member of the President's Management Council. Before entering public service in 2005, Hudson worked at Dell Inc., where he held general management and financial leadership positions at the company's headquarters in Austin, Texas and in China.  From 2002 to 2005, Hudson served as a general manager for Dell in China, leading a $500 million business unit through a period of double-digit sales growth, triple-digit earnings growth and significant operational change. Before joining Dell in 1997, he worked at AlliedSignal, Inc. (now Honeywell), Emerson Electric Co. and Arthur Andersen & Co. Hudson earned an MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor's degree at Baylor University. He is a board member of Madison Industries, a Chicago-based industrial holding company, and of KIPP DC, a public charter school operator in Washington, D.C

Research Interest

 Hudson joined Grace as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 2008. In that role, he focused on improving the company's profitability, cash flow, and return on invested capital.  During his tenure as CFO, gross margins increased eight percentage points, Adjusted EBITDA margins increased 11 percentage points, adjusted free cash flow increased nearly three times, and adjusted return on invested capital increased 11 percentage points. Hudson was deeply involved in Grace's internal transformation into a fully-integrated global operating company and its external transformation into two industry-leading public companies in February 2016. Prior to joining Grace, Hudson served as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Counselor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, where he led a transformation of the department's management practices. He also served as a member of the President's Management Council. Before entering public service in 2005, Hudson worked at Dell Inc., where he held general management and financial leadership positions at the company's headquarters in Austin, Texas and in China.  From 2002 to 2005, Hudson served as a general manager for Dell in China, leading a $500 million business unit through a period of double-digit sales growth, triple-digit earnings growth and significant operational change. Before joining Dell in 1997, he worked at AlliedSignal, Inc. (now Honeywell), Emerson Electric Co. and Arthur Andersen & Co. Hudson earned an MBA at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a Bachelor's degree at Baylor University. He is a board member of Madison Industries, a Chicago-based industrial holding company, and of KIPP DC, a public charter school operator in Washington, D.C