Robert Carr

From his start as an idealistic entrepreneur operating on a shoestring, Robert O. Carr founded Heartland Payment Systems, one of the largest debit and credit card transaction companies in America. Just as important, he earned a national reputation as a trailblazer for ethical reform of the payments industry.

He led Heartland from a modest start-up with 25 employees in 1997 to a Fortune 1000 company that employs some 3,300 colleagues. Heartland’s clients range from major retail chains to mom-and-pop restaurants and retailers as well as campuses and school districts in some of America’s largest cities.

In an age of increasing cyber assaults, Mr. Carr has led Heartland to become a gold standard in security strategy. After a remarkable recovery from the 2008 international hacking conspiracy, Heartland emerged as a champion in the fight against cyber-crime. The company’s “Merchant Bill of Rights,” meanwhile, has been lauded for its transparency in payments billing.

Growing up in the countryside near Lockport, Illinois, the son of a waitress who worked the night shifts to help support the family, Mr. Carr attended the University of Illinois, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in computer science.

Mr. Carr serves on the board of trustees at Lewis College in Illinois. He is the founder of the Give Something Back Foundation, which provides financial support to college students from poor and working-class backgrounds.