Carnival Corporation has announced that Jeffrey Gearhart has been appointed to the boards of directors, effective immediately.

He is the retired executive vice president, global governance and corporate secretary for Walmart.

In his previous role at grocer, Gearhart was responsible for, among others, the global legal, compliance, ethics, global security and investigative organisations.

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, practicing in the corporate, securities and mergers and acquisitions areas.

With a distinguished career that spans almost three decades, Gearhart is credited with building a globally recognised ethics and compliance program that earned Walmart.

“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, Carnival Corporation chairman.

“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 organisation.”

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