Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> April 14, 2003
JOSEPH A. HAFNER JR. is the President and Chief Executive Officer
of Riviana Foods Inc. Mr. Hafner joined Riviana in 1972 in
Guatemala City as Controller of Riviana's Central American
Division, which included Alimentos Kern de Guatemala, SA and
Pozuelo, SA. After two years in Guatemala, he returned to
Houston. Prior to assuming his present position in 1984, he
occupied a variety of positions in Riviana's international
operations. Mr. Hafner received his AB degree from Dartmouth
College and his MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business
Administration. After graduation from Amos Tuck, Mr. Hafner
worked two years in Lima, Peru, in the Latin American Internship
Program of Cornell University and the Ford Foundation. He then
joined Arthur Andersen & Co. in Houston. Mr. Hafner serves on the
Boards of numerous local civic and business organizations and is
a member of the Council of Overseers of the Jesse H. Jones
Graduate School of Administration of Rice University and sits on
the President's Advisory Council of the University of Houston-
Downtown. Mr. Hafner was named 'Houston's International Executive
of the Year' by the World Trade Division of the Greater Houston
Partnership and the Kiwanis Club of Houston in 1995. Profile
history and an overview of things as they are now at the company?
Mr. Hafner: We're an international food company. We started
