Carnival Corporation today announced that Jeffrey J. Gearhart, retired executive vice president, global governance and corporate secretary for Walmart, Inc., was appointed yesterday to the company’s boards of directors, effective immediately.

In his role at Walmart, Gearhart was responsible for, among others items, the global legal, compliance, ethics, global security and investigative organizations.

In addition to his 15-year leadership tenure with Walmart, Gearhart is a member of the boards of directors at Bank OZK and Mercy Hospital, Central Region. Before joining Walmart, Gearhart was a partner with Kutak Rock LLP, practicing in the corporate, securities and mergers and acquisitions areas.

Gearhart will serve in a non-executive capacity on Carnival Corporation’s 12-member boards of directors. He will also serve on both the Compliance and the Health, Environmental, Safety & Security (HESS) Committees.

“As someone who led an enterprise-wide ethical-sourcing program in addition to overseeing all domestic and international legal matters for one of the world’s top companies, Jeff brings extensive financial, operational, governance and strategic expertise to our boards of directors,” said Micky Arison, chairman, Carnival Corporation. “This, combined with Jeff’s proven track record of balancing regulatory requirements with the commercial realities of doing businesses, will be a major asset as we shape the future of our organization.”

Gearhart earned a doctor of jurisprudence degree from the University of Arkansas, where he also earned a bachelor of science in business administration degree.