Marilyn Carlson Nelson, chair and chief executive officer of Carlson Companies, remains on Fortune magazine`s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in American Business, released today by the magazine.
This is the sixth year Mrs. Nelson has been on the Fortune Top 50 list. The complete list will be published in the October 13 issue and available on newsstands October 6. It is posted on www.fortune.com. The publication describes the list as “more diverse than ever before… Winning a spot (on it) just keeps getting more difficult… Just to maintain rank on the list, in fact, a woman has to gain power.”

Mrs. Nelson became president and CEO of Carlson Companies in March 1998, overseeing one of the largest privately held corporations in the world. She became the board`s chair in June 1999.

A leader in the travel, tourism and relationship marketing industries, Mrs. Nelson serves on the World Economic Forum`s Governors Group on Travel and Tourism. In addition, she serves on the Singapore Tourism Board, was 2000 National Chair of the Travel Industry Association of America, was a delegate to the White House Conference on Tourism, and served as a board member of the USA`s National Tourism Organization.

Outside of her industry, Mrs. Nelson serves on the boards of Exxon-Mobil Corporation and the Mayo Clinic Foundation. In 2002, Mrs. Nelson was appointed by President George W. Bush to chair the National Women`s Business Council, which serves as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President and Congress on public-policy issues that support women business owners.

Mrs. Nelson is ranked 45th by Fortune. To assemble the list, Fortune evaluated each candidate - in for-profit-companies only - on four measures: the size and importance of the woman`s business in the global economy; her influence inside her company; the arc of her career (how quickly she has risen and where she`s likely to go); and when appropriate, her influence on mass culture and society.

Carly Fiorina, chair and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, tops the list, followed by Meg Whitman of eBay, Andrea Jung of Avon Products, Anne Mulcahy of Xerox, and Marjorie Magner of Citigroup.

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