Irving Matthews

Automobile dealer Irving Matthews was born on November 23, 1947 in New Iberia, Louisiana to Ella and Aaron Matthews. Matthews received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering technology from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1970.

After graduation, Matthews began his professional career at Procter & Gamble in 1970 as an engineer in the company’s manufacturing division. Over the course of thirteen years, he advanced through the ranks to become manufacturing operations manager—one of the few African Americans at the time to hold such a senior post within the company. He was then hired by the Frito Lay Company in 1983 as plant manager for its Orlando, Florida facility. In 1991, Matthews purchased the Prestige Ford car dealership in Mount Dora, Florida and founded the Matthews Automotive Group. Over the next decade, Matthews expanded his business holdings, acquiring two additional dealerships in 1999—Toyota and Mazda stores located in Stuart and Daytona Beach, Florida—and later adding a Kia dealership. These became the Matthews Automotive Group, and Matthews served as its president and CEO for more than thirty years.

As a civic leader and philanthropist, Matthews served on the board of trustees of the Southern University Foundation and the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. He served as a member of the Democratic National Convention Finance Committee. Matthews joined Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Inc. in 2002, where he later served as Sire Archon. From 2002 to 2011, Matthews served as chairman of the board of trustees at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida; and, in 2020, he was named president of the Florida Guardsmen. In 2021, Matthews donated $1 million to Southern University and A&M College to develop the Matthews Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which was named in his honor.

Throughout his career, Matthews received numerous awards and honors, including the Ford Dealers Workplace Literacy Award in 1990. In 1994, he was named a Rising Star among African Americans by Dollars & Sense magazine. Bethune-Cookman University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2008, and Southern University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 2021. In 2022, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers and the Eagle Award from the African American Chamber of Commerce Central Florida.

Matthews lives in Orlando, Florida. He has three children.

Irving Matthews was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on June 15, 2023.