Enterprise Holdings has promoted Pamela Nicholson to the position of chief executive officer from her role as president and chief operating officer. She is the third CEO in the privately held company’s 56-year history and the first to come from outside the Taylor family, which founded the company. She is also the highest-ranking woman at Enterprise Holdings, as well as in the U.S. car rental industry. She also is the highest-ranking woman among the world’s largest travel companies and, based on company revenue, ranks among the top 20 female CEOs across all industries.

The position has been held since 1991 by Andrew Taylor, who will continue to be actively engaged with the company as executive chairman. Nicholson, a 32-year veteran of the company, will retain her current title of president and continue to oversee the day-to-day, worldwide operations. As CEO, she also will be responsible for the company’s business strategies and for building and maintaining relationships with key customers, suppliers, financial institutions, elected officials and other stakeholders.

Since Nicholson’s appointment as COO, the company’s revenues have more than doubled from $6.9 billion in Fiscal Year 2003 to $15.4 billion in Fiscal Year 2012. She has played an increasingly important role in driving that growth. Among other accomplishments, she led the acquisition and integration of the Alamo and National brands, has guided the company’s growing presence in the car-sharing market and, most recently, is overseeing Enterprise’s international expansion. For the past six years, she has been named to Fortune magazine’s “Most Powerful Women in Business” list.

Nicholson began her career with Enterprise Rent-A-Car in 1981 as a management trainee in St. Louis. Over the next 12 years, she was promoted through the ranks to regional vice president in Southern California. During that period, the Southern California group grewfrom 1,000 to more than 27,000 cars in its fleet and is now the company’s largest operating group.

In 1994, Nicholson returned St. Louis to become a corporate vice president at Enterprise Holdings’ headquarters, overseeing the efforts of 10 operating groups located throughout the UnitedStates. Three years later, she was promoted to general manager of the New York Enterprise Rent-A-Car group, the company’s second largest operating group. During her two years there, the New York group saw its profitability more than double. She was promoted back to St. Louis as senior vice president-North American operations in 1999, was named COO in 2003, and then president in 2008.