Francis Blake: Home Depot Chairman

Francis Blake was born on July 30, 1949 in Boston, Massachusetts.  Francis graduated from Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts in 1967. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1971 at Harvard University.  In 1976 he obtained a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School.

Francis was a legislative assistant to the joint committee on Social Welfare of the Massachusetts legislature from 1971-1973.  He was admitted to the District of Columbia bar in 1978. Francis served as a law clerk to Judge Wilfred Feinberg and then to Supreme Court Justice John Paul Steven. He also served as general counsel to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), deputy counsel to Vice President George H.W. Bush.

Francis was the general counsel for General Electric from 1991-1995. He then served as Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and managed the DOE’s annual $19 billion budget.

Francis joined Home Depot in 2002 as executive vice president for Business Development and Corporate Operations and vice chairman of the board of directors.  He became the chairman and CEO after his predecessor Robert Nardelli resigned on January 2007.  Francis is credited in turning around Home Depot’s performance by focusing on improving employee morale and giving better customer service.

A new president and CEO was appointed on November 2014 with Francis remaining as chairman.