CSL ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS AND STAFF DIRECTORS
Jose A. Avalos
General Manager, ECG Embedded Computing Division
Intel Corporation
Jose Avalos is the Director of Retail & Digital Signage for Intel Corporation in the Embedded & Communications Group. In this role, Jose leads Intel's worldwide Retail & Digital Signage businesses and his organization is responsible for delivering Intel's Intelligent Retail & Digital Signage Platforms, as well as initiatives to fuel the growth of these Industries. Jose has a multi-faceted career with numerous General Management and Director level positions at Intel in Business, Marketing and Engineering. Prior to his current role, Jose was General Manager of Intel's Ultra-wideband Networking Operation. Jose is a veteran of the Semiconductor Industry with the last 22 years at Intel Corporation. He has represented Intel at SEMATECH and at the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce advisory boards, and currently represents Intel in the Digital Signage Association advisory board. He received his BS EE from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and his MSE in EE from the Arizona State University. In addition, Jose has completed Executive Leadership Programs at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Mary Jo Bitner
Professor and Executive Director
Center for Services Leadership
Mary Jo Bitner is the Executive Director of the Center for Services Leadership, Edward M. Carson Chair in Service Marketing, and Professor of Marketing at the W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University (ASU). In her more than 25-year career as a professor and researcher, Dr. Bitner has been recognized as one of the founders and pioneers in the field of service marketing and management worldwide. At ASU she was a founding faculty member of the Center for Services Leadership and has been a leader in its emergence as the premier university-based center for the study of services marketing and management. She also serves currently on the Board of the American Marketing Association. Dr. Bitner is co-author of a leading textbook in services: Services Marketing: Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm, McGraw-Hill, 6th edition, 2012. The book is used at the undergraduate and graduate levels at universities across the U.S. and globally, and has been translated into more than eight different languages. In the middle 1990s, Dr. Bitner led the development of the W. P. Carey MBA marketing and service leadership specialization, a unique full-year focus within the nationally ranked W. P. Carey MBA. The degree specialization has existed for over fifteen years and alumni now work in companies worldwide, leading the implementation of service and customer-focused strategies. In 2003, Dr. Bitner was awarded the Career Contributions to the Service Discipline Award presented by the American Marketing Association. She was also named an IBM Faculty Fellow for her leadership and pioneering work in service science. At ASU, Dr. Bitner has received the W. P. Carey School of Business Graduate Teaching Excellence Award and the award for Outstanding Professor, PhD Programs. She serves as a Distinguished Faculty member at Fudan University, Shanghai, China and has taught for many years in ASUs EMBA program in China. Dr. Bitner’s current research is concerned with service infusion strategies in goods-dominant companies and the strategic roles of technology and contact employees in determining customer satisfaction with services. She has published articles relevant to service marketing and management in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Service Management, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and the Academy of Management Executive. She holds a BA in Political Science and MBA and PhD degrees in Marketing, all from the University of Washington, Seattle.
Richard L. Boals
President and Chief Executive Officer
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
As president and chief executive officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Richard L. Boals provides his strategic vision and expertise to the state's leading health insurer.
Boals joined Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona in 1971 and has served in a variety of capacities, seeing the company through numerous years of stability and success. Prior to his appointment to chief executive officer in April 2003, Boals served as president and chief operating officer.
Boals is a member of the board of directors for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, as well as for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and TriWest Healthcare Alliance, an organization dedicated to meeting the health care needs of our military. In addition, Boals serves as president and board member of CSA General Insurance Agency Inc., a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona subsidiary.
His commitments don't end there: Boals is active in the community, and has been involved with countless professional and local organizations. He chooses to be aligned with Arizona organizations that focus on youth and education; health, wellness and human services; economic and civic development; and arts and culture.
Recent awards recognizing Boals' role as a community and business leader include the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation's Heroes of Education Award, the Victoria Foundation's Advocates for Education Award, the ASU Alumni Leadership Award, the American Jewish Committee's National Human Relations and Centennial Leadership Awards, the Anti Defamation League's Jerry J. Wisotsky Torch of Liberty Award, and the Greater Phoenix Urban League's Whitney M. Young, Jr. Individual Award.
Boals received his bachelor's degree in accounting from Arizona State University and an associate's degree from Phoenix College. He has completed executive development courses at Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, Haas School of Business at the University of California, Harvard University and University of Michigan. Boals served four years in the United States Air Force before beginning his career at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona.
Stephen W. Brown
Emeritus Edward M. Carson Chair and Professor of Marketing Distinguished Faculty
Center for Services Leadership
Stephen W. Brown is the Edward M. Carson Chair, Professor of Marketing Emeritus and Distinguished Faculty with the Center for Services Leadership (CSL), W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University. He is also a Strategic Partner with The INSIGHT Group. From its founding in 1985 until May 2011, he served as the CSL’s executive director. He is also a former national president of the American Marketing Association.
Professor Brown has co-authored and co-edited 23 books and over 100 articles. Much of his research and writing focuses on the science of service and the topics of strategic services marketing, service excellence and recovering from service failures. Currently, he’s devoting major research, executive teaching and consulting to the area of service infusion or growing service revenues in product-dominant companies.
Dr. Brown has been identified as one of the ten most frequent contributors to the English-language services marketing literature in the world. He’s been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from the HANKEN School of Economics in Finland and from Karlstad University in Sweden. He is the recipient of the Career Contributions to Services Marketing Award from the American Marketing Association and the Educator of the Year Award from the Association for Service Management International. He serves as a speaker and seminar leader for conferences and business meetings around the world.
Dr. Brown has co-founded three companies, and he serves on the boards of directors of several companies and a nonprofit organization.
Katinka Bryson
Market Area VP
State Farm Insurance Companies
Katinka Bryson, Market Area Vice President in the Great Western Zone (including six states: AZ, CO, NM, UT, NV and WY), began her State Farm career in 1992 as a State Farm Agent in Chula Vista, Calif.
In 1995 Katinka was appointed Agency Field Consultant in San Diego, and in 1997 she assumed Agency Field Executive responsibilities in the Los Angeles market area. Katinka moved to Corporate Headquarters in 2000 as Director of Customer Access Marketing.
From December 2001 to January 2010, she has served as Vice President-Agency in the Great Western Zone. During this time her responsibilities at different times have included Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, Recruiting, Learning and Development and the DAFO.
Katinka received her bachelor's degree from Smith College, Northampton, Mass. She completed her CLU designation in 1997 and her CASL and ChFC in 2005.
Katinka was born in Holland. She has also lived in Brazil, Austria, Pakistan, South Africa, and Australia and speaks four languages. One of her proud accomplishments is that in 2003 she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Katinka is married to Chris and has five children: Michael (24); Tim (21); Andrew (18); and Kate and Ian (4).
Richard Caselli
Professor of Neurology, Member Executive Operating Team
Mayo Clinic, Arizona
Dr. Caselli is Professor of Neurology, Mayo Clinic in Arizona, a member of the Mayo Clinic Arizona Executive Board, and he recently stepped down as chair of the department of Neurology, a capacity in which he served from 2000 through 2009. He has served as Chair of the Mayo Clinic Arizona Service Committee since 2008, and is also Clinical Core Director of the Arizona Alzheimer's Disease Center which comprises the six major academic tertiary care medical centers in Maricopa and Pima Counties. He is a graduate of Columbia College, and Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. He pursued his Neurology training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and received the Woltman Award for outstanding clinical performance during his training. He completed a fellowship in Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience with Dr. Antonio Damasio at the University of Iowa (1987-1988) after which he joined the staff of the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minnesota subsequently transferring in 1990 to Scottsdale, Arizona where he has been since). His clinical specialty is Behavioral Neurology, particularly regarding Alzheimer's disease and related cognitive disorders in adults. His research centers on cognitive changes related to aging and Alzheimer's disease.
He has received the Teacher of the Year Award (Medical Specialties) in three consecutive years (1995-1998), and the Lifetime Educator Award (2007). In 1999 he received the Mayo Clinic Arizona Distinguished Clinician Award, and in 2002 the Distinguished Investigator Award. His research has generated numerous scientific publications in leading medical and scientific journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and many others.
Steven Church
Senior Vice President, Chief Corporate Business Development & Planning Officer
Avnet, Inc.
In August 2010 Steve Church was named executive leader of the Avnet Logistics Services business unit, later rebranded as Avnet Integrated Resources. Mr. Church is charged with growing this reverse logistics business organically and through strategic acquisitions. Economic, environmental and technological issues have created new global opportunities for repair or refurbishment of end-user goods, and for recapture of base and rare earth materials, and plastics. Avnet Integrated Resources' mission is to provide these lifecycle management services to benefit industrial customers, consumers and the earth.
Additionally, Mr. Church is responsible for Avnet's global customer engagement program, corporate business development and innovation. The corporate communications function reports to him as well. He reports to CEO Rick Hamada.
Mr. Church previously led the company's global efforts in operational excellence, applying a philosophy of process and system improvements to achieve cost savings, decrease cycle times, enhance customer service and improve overall operational efficiencies.
Mr. Church also served formerly as chief human resources development officer, where he used his skills in strategy development, execution and team-building to carry forward a solid program of people development and became well known as a strong advocate of employee engagement.
Before taking on human resources and organizational development, he was president of Avnet Electronics Marketing, Americas and co-president of Avnet Electronics Marketing, Global. Earlier in his career he held positions within Avnet such as vice president/Southwest area director for Hamilton Hallmark and vice president of corporate marketing for Hamilton Hallmark.
Before joining Avnet in 1991, Mr. Church was employed for 12 years by Signetics (now NXP, formerly Philips Semiconductor) where he served as Western area manager and director of distribution. Prior to Signetics, Mr. Church was employed by Schweber Electronics, where he served as general manager for the Southern California division of the company.
Mr. Church serves on the boards of advisors for Texas A&M University's Industrial Distribution Program and Arizona State University's Center for Services Leadership at the W.P. Carey School of Business. He was honored in December 2003 by the Professional Association for Industrial Distributors for his outstanding support and dedication to the industrial distribution program at Texas A & M University.
In 2009 Mr. Church joined government and business leaders from Arizona as a strategic advisor on the cabinet of the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, a new academic medical center in development.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cal Poly Pomona.
Bernard J. Clark
Senior Vice President, Schwab Advisor Services
Charles Schwab
Bernie Clark is head of Schwab Advisor Services, which provides custodial, operational and trading support for approximately 6,000 independent investment advisory firms.
Clark first joined Schwab in 1998 as head of trading and operations for the advisor business and in 2002 joined Schwab Investor Services in a client services role. In 2005, Bernie returned to the advisor business as head of sales and relationship management. He took on his current role as head of Advisor Services in February 2010.
Prior to joining Schwab, Clark was managing director at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell in London, where he was responsible for global market sales, hedge fund operations and technology. Previously, he held client service and operations positions at Salomon Brothers and Emigrant Savings Bank.
Clark earned his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from St. John's University in New York.
Schwab Advisor Services is a division of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC), which is a subsidiary of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW).
Tom Curran
Principal, Service
Edward Jones
Tom Curran joined Edward Jones as a financial advisor in
1992 and opened an office in Brighton, Mich. A year later,
he relocated to Geneseo, Ill., where he remained for the next 12 years. Curran was named a limited partner with the firm in 1997.
In 2001, Curran participated in the Global Edward Jones
Organization class, researching opportunities in additional
foreign markets for the firm.
In 2006, he was named a principal and invited to relocate to the firm's St. Louis home office, where he served in the Financial Advisor Development department as an area leader with responsibility for financial advisors in the Northeast.
In 2009, he accepted the Banking Services global leader
position, and a year later, Curran assumed leadership of the
Service division, where he is now responsible for the
performance of the division, including Account Services,
Product Services, the PASS Program, Business Solutions
Service, Client Support and Operations and Service Training.
Curran is a member of the firm's Management Committee.
Throughout his career with Edward Jones, Curran has volunteered as a visiting veteran, a training mentor and a new financial advisor support specialist. As his business grew, he brought in another financial advisor to help him better serve clients. Curran also served as a regional leader from June 2001 to December 2005 with responsibility for the success of 77 other financial advisors in northwest Illinois.
Curran earned a bachelor’s degree from Augustana College in
Rock Island, Ill., and a master’s degree from the University of Iowa. In addition, he attended the Securities Industry Institute at the Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania and holds an AAMS® professional designation.
Bobbi Dangerfield
Vice President, Commercial Sales Operations
Dell
Bobbi Dangerfield leads Commercial Sales Operations in Dell’s Commercial Business. In her role, Bobbi is responsible for enabling sales productivity, business growth and customer experience while driving operational excellence and flawless execution.
Bobbi served as Vice President, Global Relationship Business Operations from November 2010 to January 2012, ensuring that all aspects of the purchase process contributed to improved customer experience and sales force productivity.
She served as Managing Director of the Dell Global Business Center from May 2008 to June 2011. In this role, she was responsible for building capabilities in Malaysia as an IT and Services strategic delivery center.
Prior to the Global Business Center in Malaysia, Bobbi was General Manager for Dell El Salvador, responsible for leading Dell’s Consumer business for both U.S. and Latin America markets. Her leadership in both countries has created lasting bonds between Dell, and the Salvadoran and Malaysian governments through concerted efforts geared at leaving a Dell legacy in these countries by helping improve health, environment and education for the population.
Bobbi joined Dell in August 1999 as an IT Director with responsibilities encompassing network, desktop and server support; help desk, systems operations, asset management and call center technology services for all internal Dell functions. Bobbi also led the U.S. Consumer Customer Care organization, U.S. Consumer Call Center Operations, Customer Experience, Customer Centricity and Global Technology Product Management organizations at Dell.
She has more than 20 years of experience in Information Systems, Customer Service and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Prior to joining Dell, Bobbi held positions at Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and IBM.
She received her BBA in Marketing/Management from Dallas Baptist University and her MBA from Southern Methodist University. She is a member of the board of directors for Dress for Success Austin. Bobbi lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Elmer and her children, Paige and Tyler.
Michael Evans
Senior Vice President, General Manager K-12 Mathematics
Pearson Education's Curriculum Group
Mike Evans is Senior Vice President, General Manager K-12 Mathematics for Pearson Education's Curriculum Group, a provider of school learning solutions. Mike's responsibilities include managing financial and operational performance investment strategy and product development for Pearson's K-12 mathematics business. Prior to his current role, Mike was President of Pearson's student information business (Pearson School Systems) and lead K-12 software development and software product management for the company. Before Pearson, Mike was the Chief Operating Officer of Bigchalk, a K-12 library database provider. Mike also held various senior management positions in both broadcast and cable television including his role as Assistant General Manager of the Food Network cable television channel.
Rich Goldberg
Vice President, Corporate Quality
Cisco Systems
Rich is the Vice President of Corporate Quality at Cisco Systems and a member of Cisco's Customer Value Chain Management leadership team. Rich joined Cisco in January 2005, having spent 28 years at AT&T.
Rich is responsible for programs to improve customer experience, through process, product and service quality. He is the operations lead for Cisco’s Quality Experience Board, bringing leaders together from across the business to drive Cisco to deliver an unrivaled customer experience. Rich had been a customer of Cisco's for a long time and played an important role in driving quality initiatives through a variety of customer forums.
While at AT&T, Rich served in a variety of roles. His executive responsibilities included Global IP and Packet Network Engineering, Network IP and Data Network Services, Network Information and Recording Technology, and Network Continuity and Disaster Recovery. Rich began his career at Bell Laboratories where he worked on field studies to improve the service quality and performance of the Bell System switched network.
Rich serves in an advisory capacity for the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and the University of the Pacific School of Engineering and Computer Science. He also co-chairs Cisco’s Silicon Valley Civic Council, facilitating volunteerism and philanthropy across Cisco’s headquarters campus.
Rich has attended the Executive Program in Business at the University of Michigan. He has a Ph.D. in Physics from Caltech, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from MIT, and he is a member of IEEE.
Gopal (V.K.) Gopalakrishnan
Vice President and Global Practice Leader
Genpact
Gopalakrishnan V K (Gopal) is Vice President and Global Practice Leader for Genpact, a global leader in business process and technology management, where he is responsible for strategy, growth, and P&L for the After Market Services business. In a career spanning 17 years, Gopal has played key roles within manufacturing and automotive industries, as well as IT and outsourcing and as a consultant, specializing in supply chain/logistics and aftermarket services. He has created and led new businesses and engagements in multiple geographies, including the U.S., Asia Pacific, South Africa and India.
In his earlier role as General Manager for a global IT major, he incubated and managed the Travel, Transportation, and Logistics vertical worldwide, creating significant new revenue streams. He has held key leadership positions in the manufacturing and automotive industries, managing business P&Ls. In his industry roles he drove multiple initiatives, including the Deming Prize, new product development and logistics optimization for global majors. Gopal worked with Deloitte as a management consultant, and has implemented process and cost management programs across multiple industry segments. As an entrepreneur he also created a technology IP company that led to global commercialization for patents developed.
He is a recognized thought leader and speaker in the supply chain and aftermarket services space, serving as a member on leading forums in India and abroad. Gopal sits on the Board of Advisors at Arizona State University's Center for Services Leadership, is a member of the National Logistics Advisory Council of CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) and Vice President of the Delhi Roundtable for Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). A Mechanical Engineer, he also holds a masters' degree in Business Administration. Gopal lives in Gurgaon, India.
Brad Haeberle
Vice President, Marketing
Siemens Industry, Inc.
Brad Haeberle is the Vice President of Marketing for Siemens Industry, a $2.2 billion North American division of Siemens AG.
At Siemens, Haeberle is responsible for driving marketing strategy, business intelligence, product and service identification d quality and customer experience for the company's five business units - Building Automation, Energy & Environmental Services, Fire/Life Safety, Security Systems and Heating/Ventilation Products.
Since 2007, Haeberle has chaired the Siemens Sustainability Committee, an internal, cross functional team charged with defining the company's own sustainability efforts and implementing operational and institutional measures to help reduce the company's overall environmental footprint. He also serves on the board of directors for the Continental Automated Buildings Association. In addition, he plays an active role in the United States Green Building Council, the American Society for Industrial Security, the International Facility Management Association and the National Fire Protection Association. Haeberle is also a member of several industry associations and councils.
Haeberle joined Siemens Building Technologies in 1994 and has held several key sales and marketing managerial positions for the Building Automation and Facility Management Services (FMS) business units. Haeberle is credited with growing the FMS business from $15 million to $120 million in a three-year period, developing and executing the companies e-business strategy, and consolidating disperse marketing departments into a consolidated organization that has supported organic growth of over $900 million over the past five years.
Prior to joining Siemens, Haeberle worked for Exxon-Mobil Oil Corporation serving in roles of progressive responsibility across sales, field operations, training and marketing functions. At Exxon-Mobil, Haeberle was part of a three-person team that created the concept for Mobil Speed Pass, a payment method that was credited for reducing customer time spent at the pump by 35 percent.
Haeberle earned a bachelor of business administration in finance degree from the University of Iowa and a master of business administration from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. He and his wife Heather currently reside in Arlington Heights, Ill. with their two children.
As a leading provider of energy and environmental solutions, building controls, fire safety and security systems solutions, Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., makes buildings comfortable, safe, secure and less costly to operate. With U.S. headquarters in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Siemens Building Technologies employs 7,400 people and provides a full range of services and solutions from more than 100 locations coast-to-coast. Worldwide, the company has 28,000 employees and operates from more than 500 locations in 51 countries.
Scott Hanna
Vice President, Service Solutions
Lutron Electronics
Scott Hanna is currently Vice President, Service Solutions for Lutron Electronics – headquartered in Coopersburg, PA. He leads the quality improvement efforts for all areas of the company: Services, Engineering, Field Reliability, Customer Problem Resolution, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain.
Scott joined Lutron in 1984, and has held management positions in Engineering, Marketing, Sales, Legal, Quality and Division General Management.
He serves on the board of advisors for Arizona State University’s Center for Services Leadership at the W. P. Carey School of Business.
Scott holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Sheryl Henderson
Business Segment Director-Services
Michelin Americas Small Tires
As the Director of Services for Michelin Americas Small Tires, Sheryl is responsible for service innovation as well as development and implementation of service offers. Sheryl joined Michelin in 1995 and prior to that worked in both the CPG and Financial Services industries, for a combined total of 30 years as a marketing professional. Her experience and expertise includes brand management, customer relationship management, direct marketing, marketing research, marketing communications, and website development. Sheryl attended Georgia State University and Emory University.
Amy Hillman
Executive Dean and Rusty Lyon Chair of Strategy
W.P. Carey School of Business
Dr. Amy Hillman is the Rusty Lyon Chair of Strategy and Executive Dean of the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. She received her PhD from Texas A&M University in Strategic Management and Business and Public Policy. Her areas of interest include corporate political strategies, boards of directors, and firm performance and resource dependence linkages.
She is Editor of Academy of Management Review and a former Associate Editor of Academy of Management Journal. Her research has been published in leading journals such as Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, and Journal of International Business Studies. She also serves or has served on the Editorial Review Boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management and Journal of International Business Studies.
Amy joined ASU in June, 2001. An award-winning undergraduate and MBA teacher, she previously taught at the Ivey Business School at The University of Western Ontario, the Broad Business School at Michigan State University and the Mays College of Business at Texas A&M University. In addition, she has spent several summers as a guest professor at the Institute for International Management at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. Prior to joining academia, Amy was general manager of a retailing and manufacturing organization in the Southwest United States.
Alicia Holder
Director of Business Partnerships
Center for Services Leadership
Alicia Holder, Director of Business Partnerships, has responsibility for developing the Center's business partnerships, developing and implementing executive education programs and oversight of the Center's marketing strategy with the Center's member firms, and implementing the Compete Through Service Symposium and annual Services Leadership Institute as well as developing Company Specific Programs for the Center's clients.
Alicia has been working in higher education since 1992 where she was Assistant Director of University Events in Institutional Advancement at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Her responsibilities there included bringing notable speakers to the Norfolk area for the university's President's Lecture Series and other events to promote the school to the community, alumni, donors and prospective students. She has been with the W. P. Carey School of Business since 1997 and has served in the MBA Career Management Office and the Marketing Department in a student advisory/recruiter development role. She has been in her current role with the Center for Services Leadership since 2000.
Alicia graduated from the Evening MBA program in the W. P. Carey School in 2000 and also holds an M.A. in Teaching. Alicia was the W. P. Carey School of Business 2005 winner of the Dean's Staff Recognition Award and was a recipient of the Arizona Governor's Team Award for Excellence. A marketing campaign run under Alicia's direction has won the Phoenix area American Marketing Association award for "Best Business to Business Marketing Campaign".
Cynthia Kantor
Chief Marketing Officer, GE Power Generation Services
GE Energy
Cynthia attended the University of Michigan and graduated with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering. Cynthia joined GE on the Manufacturing Management Program (MMP) with assignments in GE Appliances and GE Capital Technology Management Services. Following graduation from MMP, Cynthia joined the GE Audit Staff where she progressed through Senior Audit Manager. She joined GE Aircraft Engines in 2001 as the Chief Risk and Portfolio Manager. In 2003 she moved to the Commercial Engine division to assume the role of Business Operations Manager for the GEnx Engine. In 2005 she joined GE Energy as the Chief Marketing Officer and BD leader for Environmental. In 2010 Cynthia was appointed Chief Strategic Marketing Officer for GE Energy and is based in Atlanta, GA and in 2012 assumed the role of Chief Marketing Officer for GE Power Generation Services.
Barbara Kennedy
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
United Stationers
Barbara J. Kennedy has been United Stationers' Senior Vice President, Human Resources since August 2008. Ms. Kennedy spent nine years with Swift Transportation Company, Inc. where she most recently was Executive Vice President, Human Resources, Safety, Recruiting and Driver Services. Her responsibilities included compensation, benefits and all aspects of safety, including strategy development, federal/state compliance, loss prevention and safety education. Prior to that, Ms. Kennedy was Vice President, Human Resources from 2001-2005. In that role, she managed all aspects of human resources, including non-driver staffing, compensation and benefits, performance management and served as liaison to the Board of Directors. From 1999-2001, she was Director, Quality Assurance. Before joining Swift, Ms. Kennedy spent five-years at Barr-Nunn Transportation, where she held various management positions in human resources. Ms. Kennedy received her Bachelor's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Seth Kiner
President, Customer Programs & Services
Southern California Edison
Seth Kiner is vice president, Customer Programs & Services at Southern California Edison (SCE), a position in which he applies his marketing and consumer behavior expertise to bring together emerging technologies like electric vehicles, solar energy, smart meters and home area networks and behavioral actions like conservation and energy efficiency to help SCE customers adopt a smarter energy lifestyle. Kiner leads SCE's energy efficiency, demand response and clean self-generation program portfolios and customer strategy, marketing, market research, e-commerce and strategic alliances functions.
Prior to joining SCE in September of 1999, Kiner served as executive director of Marketing for KPMG, LLP, managing the firm’s marketing and product development functions in support of both the consulting and tax practices at the firm. Before joining KPMG, he was vice president of Marketing for United Way of Greater Los Angeles. His career has included positions at Transamerica Corporation and several leading global advertising agencies.
Kiner is a council member for the EPRI Power Delivery and Utilization Sector. Kiner serves on the board of advisors of the Center for Services Leadership, as well as on the board of directors of TreePeople.
Kiner earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Arizona State University.
Scottie Knott
Chief Operating Officer
National Industries for the Blind
Scottie Knott joined National Industries for the Blind (NIB) in April 2009 as Vice President of Operations, and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in October 2009, where she leads the day-to-day operations of NIB, business development, online marketing and distribution, textiles and niche, services and operations planning and analysis.
Prior to joining NIB, Scottie was Director for Acquisition Management, at the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. As the Component Acquisition Executive for DLA, she had overall acquisition management responsibilities for the agency, including an annual agency acquisition program exceeding $38 billion. Scottie also served as the Deputy Director, Logistics Operations, where she provided policy and oversight for the eight supply chains and distribution and disposal field activities.
Scottie’s background includes serving as the Executive Director, Acquisition, Technical and Supply, HQ, DLA; Executive Director of Electronic Business at DLA and the Director of the DoD Electronic Business Program Office; Assistant Executive Director, Strategic Business Development and Implementation and Chief of the Procurement Systems and Electronic Commerce Teams in the Directorate of Procurement, HQ, DLA; Chief of the Plans, Policy, and Systems Office at the Defense Supply Center, Richmond, Directorate of Procurement; and Senior Functional Analyst for the Standard Army Automated Contracting System.
Scottie holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Chapman College and Master of Science degrees in Contract and Acquisition Management from the Florida Institute of Technology and in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University. She has a Certified Professional Contracts Manager designation from the National Contract Management Association and is a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. She was a member of the Senior Executive Service from 1998 until her retirement in 2009.
Scottie has been honored with numerous awards, including the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service, DLA Superior Civilian Service, DLA Exceptional Civilian Service, and DLA Meritorious Civilian Service. She was named Meritorious Senior Executive in 2003 and selected as one of the Federal Computer Week Top 100 IT Professionals in 1999 and 2001. Scottie is an honorary lifetime faculty member of the Army Logistics Management College, Ft. Lee, Virginia.
Dave Lavanty
Senior Vice President, Division General Manager
NJVC
As NJVC Senior Vice President (SVP/GM), Solutions Division, David Lavanty is responsible for the growth and management of the company’s market share in both commercial and federal government segments in delivering a wide range of information technology and strategic solutions, including Cloud Services, Cyber Security and, Data Center Services. Mr. Lavanty also directs the development and implementation of solution sales policies and procedures.
Mr. Lavanty has more than 28 years of experience in the IT industry, and has led global professional services organizations and built strategic customer relationships in various industries, ranging from federal, state and local government; higher education; financial services; and healthcare. Leveraging a collaborative working relationship that focuses on aligning people, process, technology and governance, he partners with customers to ensure maximum value from their IT investments.
Prior to joining NJVC, Mr. Lavanty was VP, Public Sector and Strategic Partners, with BMC Software. During his tenure, he managed an industry vertical business unit responsible for full profit and loss consumer sales, and oversaw strategic partner programs, including Global Outsourcers and Systems Integrators. Before holding this position, he was Corporate VP, Global Services, with the company, and oversaw operations for a $150-million business unit; supervised a staff of more than 500 people, and managed Consulting, Education, Managed Services and Software as a Service business lines for various global regions.
Earlier, Mr. Lavanty was Group VP, Public Sector, Higher Education and Healthcare, with Oracle Corporation, where he managed and supervised multiple business units, including Government, Higher Education, K-12 Education, Healthcare Services and Life Sciences for the $25-billion enterprise software company.
Mr. Lavanty earned his Master of Business Administration in Information Systems from Marymount University and his undergraduate degree in Technical Education from the University of Akron. He also completed executive leadership programs in Advanced Leadership Development at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and Leadership for Professional Services firms at Harvard Business School.
Rich Lechner
Vice President, Business & IT Services Marketing
IBM
Rich Lechner is vice president, IBM business and IT services marketing.
IBM delivers a broad spectrum of business and IT services in a model that is premised on business value and enabled by cloud. He is responsible for leveraging the breadth and depth of IBM’s unique combination of insight, innovation, and expertise to help clients achieve business transformation, improved economics and increased operational efficiencies.
He teams across IBM services, software, and research organizations in defining IBM’s sourcing strategy. In this role, his organization works closely with clients to help them acquire the capabilities they need to drive innovation and growth using the transformative power of cloud as well as managed services, project based integrated technology services, and strategic outsourcing.
Mr. Lechner has broad experience across the software, systems and services business including key leadership roles in virtualization, Internet technology, Green innovation, smart buildings, enterprise systems, and storage. He spent ten years as a programmer for IBM, beginning as a micro-code programmer in the Financial Services Industry. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science from University of California, Los Angeles.
Jim Lehrer
Vice President, Member Experience
AAA Arizona, Inc.
Jim Lehrer joined AAA Arizona in 2002 as Director of Technical Marketing. He has subsequently had diverse responsibilities, first as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development (overseeing membership products, marketing, financial products, AAA.com, member discounts and the project management office), and currently as Vice President, Member Experience (additional responsibilities include overseeing travel operations, managing AAA Arizona branch offices, call center performance management, member experience and member relations). Jim’s teams also support websites, eMarketing and customer analytics for partner clubs within ACP Holdings.
Jim’s career began at AAA NCNU in Financial Analysis. While at NCNU, he moved up the ranks to become Manager of Insurance Company Financial and Operational Planning, and later, Director of eBusiness Strategy and Delivery.
He holds a BA in Japanese Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and an MBA from Thunderbird American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona.
Stephen Liguori
Executive Director, Global Marketing
General Electric
Adam Malamut
Global HR Officer - Brand, Marketing, eCommerce & Information Resources
Marriott International
Adam Malamut serves as the Human Resources leader for two divisions at Marriott International – Sales & Revenue Management and Brand, Marketing & eCommerce. As Global HR Officer – Sales, Marketing, & Brand Management, Adam is the senior Human Resources strategist responsible for establishing the global human resources strategy for both divisions, including organizational design and talent management (training, acquisition, leadership and career development, compensation, performance management, and workforce analytics). This position also holds responsibility for architecting all market-facing talent platforms for specific brands. His work on organizational climate, diversity and inclusion, and employee selection and assessment systems has been presented at numerous professional conferences and published in peer-reviewed publications. Adam’s applied research on workforce diversity and inclusion was recognized and supported by a multi-year grant from the National Science Foundation. He has a doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from The George Washington University and a BS in psychology from Penn State University. Adam is also a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and is a board member of the ASU Center for Services Leadership.
Greg Manganello
SVP Services
Fujitsu Network Communications
Greg Manganello is SVP of Services at Fujitsu Network Communications Inc. He captains the Network Services business at Fujitsu, a role he has occupied since 2008. His broad strategic vision has enabled Fujitsu to transform its Services business into a high-growth, profitable powerhouse.
Greg’s transformation-oriented, inspirational leadership style is the result of over 25 years of profit and revenue creation in technology companies. His tough-minded, innovative approach is focused on creating an organizational architecture in which top-flight talent can think big and perform beyond expectations.
Greg began his career at Bell Labs as a solutions architect and advanced rapidly through various management roles. Throughout the 90s, Greg held positions as director of strategy, marketing and business planning, business development and executive sales. More recently at Alcatel-Lucent, (formerly AT&T Network Services, Lucent Technologies and Bell Labs) Greg was VP of business development in Brazil, then North America VoIP leader, and Industry and Public Sector VP.
Greg holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. He also attended Penn State and Thunderbird University, earning executive education in Financial Analysis for Strategic Management, a Mini Master of Business Administration (MBA), and Financial Issues in Global Competition. He has been selected for the Fujitsu Global Knowledge Institute, a six-month senior leadership development program.
Mike McCain
Executive Vice President, Business Development
Aero Jet Services
As the Executive Vice President of Business Development for Aero Jet Services, Michael McCain spearheads the initiatives for strategic business expansion as well as new client acquisitions. Focusing heavily on global sales and marketing programs, Michael is setting his sights on the emerging Asian and Russian business markets for business opportunities. He brings to Aero Jet a wealth of knowledge and expertise pertaining to the luxury sales market and top-notch client relations.
Previous positions at Fortune 100 companies have afforded him the opportunity to work with dynamic and demanding markets from aviation to high-end building projects. Michael’s business practices stem from an understanding and appreciation of the simplicity in complex things. His ability to adapt to the ever-changing economic conditions has built upon his steadfast determination to cultivate and secure new business opportunities.
Mr. McCain has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Kansas University where he was a collegiate athlete for the football team and where his passion for sports travel started.
Rick McCombie
Senior Vice President, Distribution
The Co-Operators Group Limited
"It's our company values, community involvement and our people that make this company a place where you can be proud to work," says Rick McCombie who has been with The Co-operators since August 1976.
As Senior Vice-President, Distribution, Rick is responsible for leading the distribution strategy across The Co operators group of companies. He is also responsible for agency management, region, call centre operations, Marketing, Group Sales, and Client Relationship Management.
Rick started with Co-operators General as an office trainee in Owen Sound. Since then, Rick has held various positions including Accounting Supervisor and Atlantic Division Controller. He was also Region Vice-President for New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, Southwestern Ontario, as well as Central Ontario.
Throughout his career, Rick has obtained his Chartered Management Accountant, Chartered Insurance Professional and LIMRA Leadership Insurance Foundation designations. One of Rick's career highlights includes 10 years of profitable growth in the Southwestern Ontario Region while under his leadership. He was also the project leader of Co-op Auto Coalition in the early 90s.
An active member in the community, Rick admires and is influenced by Mother Teresa, who he feels "puts the lives of others before her own." Rick highlights his time as Chair of London/Middlesex United Way as a valuable experience. He is currently the Volunteer Chair for the Guelph/Wellington United Way Campaign.
Mark McLoughlin
Senior Vice President & President US Lab Business
VWR International, LLC
Mark McLoughlin is VWR’s Senior Vice President of Emerging Businesses. Mark brings over 30 years of commercial and strategic management experience to his role. In his position, Mark is responsible for leading a combination of VWR’s distribution, manufacturing and regional businesses (Mexico, Puerto Rico and Canada) in North America.
Before joining VWR, Mark held the position of Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer for Cardinal Health, Inc. based in Geneva Switzerland, where he designed and implemented an International Strategic Marketing Organization to support all the Cardinal Health business outside of the U.S. and Canada. Prior to this position, from 2002 – 2007, Mark was Sr. Vice President, General Manager of Cardinal Health’s Scientific Products Clinical Laboratory business located in McGaw Park, Illinois where he led the achievement of double-digit, profitable growth for three consecutive years. Prior to Cardinal Health Inc., Mark spent one year each at Norwood Abbey Ltd. and Ion Beam Applications, Inc., two healthcare technology companies. From 1996-2001, Mark held several vice president-level positions at Mallinckrodt Inc. He began his career in 1978 at American Hospital and Baxter Healthcare Corporation as a scientific products sales representative and over his 18 years with American Hospital and Baxter, spent time as an instrument sales specialist, area manager, corporate account executive, and managed care director.
Mark is on the Board of Directors at Cytomedix Inc., serving as chair of the compensation committee. He also serves on the Board of the Laboratory Products Association (LPA). He graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Psychology.
Christopher Melocik
Senior Vice President, Integration and Process Improvement
Republic Services, Inc.
Christopher Melocik is the Senior Vice President of Integration and Process Improvement at Republic Services, Inc. Republic is the second largest waste services provider in North America. In addition to leading the post-merger integration of Republic and Allied Waste, Chris leads teams to improve processes and build capabilities in Republic's broadly distributed operations.
Mr. Melocik has more than 25 years of industry and consulting experience with strategic and operational issues in manufacturing, transportation and logistics. Prior to joining Allied he was an Associate Principal in the Chicago office of McKinsey & Company where he was a leader in the Operations Practice. Previously, Mr. Melocik held functional and general management roles in metals manufacturing and materials distribution organizations.
Mr. Melocik holds a master of management degree in marketing and finance from Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management and an A.B. in mathematics and economics from Dartmouth College.
Mary Murcott
Chief Executive Officer
NOVO 1 Contact Centers
Mary Murcott is the Chief Executive Officer of NOVO 1 and leads the company's efforts to support clients' business goals in building customer relationships and growing their brands.
Before being appointed Chief Executive of NOVO 1 in 2010, Murcott was President and founder of her own company Performance Transformations, Inc. Prior to consulting she was SVP American Express and held executive positions at Budget Rent a Car and Ryder Trucks, DHL and Cox Communications.
Murcott is an international keynote speaker and author of “Driving Peak Sales Performance in Call Centers. She is regarded as a “contact center futurist” and authority on sales and operations, multi-channel service, performance management, coaching, employee selection and retention, workforce planning, and first contact resolution. She is a member of CEO Netweavers, Executive Woman's Roundtable, Institute of Management Consultants, and International Customer Management Institute Advisory Board.
A native of Omaha, NE, Murcott earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from
Creighton University.
Tom Nguyen
Vice President, Nuclear Services Strategic Operations
Westinghouse Electric Company
Tom is an executive Vice President at Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC). A global executive, he is responsible for the Global Strategic Management, Marketing and Operations for the company largest business area - Nuclear Services with ~ $2B in revenue. Tom returned to the States after a seven years expat assignment in the UK for the then WEC's
parent company - British Nuclear Fuels, Ltd (BNFL). Prior to the current position, Tom was the Chief Operations Officer for Nuclear Services and responsible for its global operations. He also has extensive track record in leading the development of new products, services, markets and building major alliances in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in Asia. Tom holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Nuclear Engineering, a MBA and is a graduate from both the Harvard and London Business School's Senior Executive Development programs. He is also a graduate from the prestigious United Kingdom Prime Minister Office - Top Management - program which selects and develops top
management talent from both industry and government. Tom currently serves on the board of directors for the University of Pittsburgh Graduate Business School - International Business Center.
Marie Olesen
Founder & CEO
The Real Ratings Group, LCC
Marie Olesen is the Founder & CEO of The Real Ratings Group, LLC. She also directs La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre, a recognized innovator in the business of cosmetic plastic surgery.
Stimulated by the work of Stephen Brown in the seminal ASU study on patient satisfaction, Patient Satisfaction Pays, Marie joined the CSL board in 2009, “My exposure to CSL events focusing on the Science of Service, prompted me to take a new look at patient satisfaction in cosmetic plastic surgery. Medical practices don’t understand the principles and benefits of service recovery which is dangerous in this age of ratings and reviews.”
Olesen launched RealPatientRatings™ in September 2011. Partnering with Service Management Group, the largest customer experience agency in the world, she began surveying patient satisfaction in plastic surgery practices focusing on patient experience. Using SMG’s dashboard and smart phone technology, plastic surgeons could access real-regional and benchmarking.
Olesen launched realpatientratings.com in early 2012 to help surgeons with ratings and reviews. By September, Google granted 5-star status to RPR’s reviews. More plastic surgery reviews can be found on Realpatientratings.com than any site. RPR reviews outrank Yelp, RateMD and Vitals in many searches.
The Real Ratings Group became an endorsed partner of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in October 2012. CareCredit, a division of GE Money, signed a marketing agreement with RPR for joint projects in 2012 and 2013.
Olesen’s willingness to use technology to manage service and communication began in the early 1990’s. She founded Inform Software and introduced INFORM&CONSENT®, the first personalized informed consent program in plastic surgery. In 1995, she created INFORM&ENHANCE®, an industry-transforming CRM system which helped practices improve patient satisfaction and drive revenue. She developed performance metrics and performance benchmarks which have become industry standards.
Olesen is an accomplished speaker, moderator and teacher. With her husband, R. Merrel Olesen, MD, she co-authored of Cosmetic Surgery for Dummies, a consumer guide to aesthetic surgery. Within the industry, her articles have appeared in Plastic Surgery News, Plastic Surgery Products, and the APSA newsletter.
Mary Orlando
Assistant Vice President of Member Experience - Financial Foundations
USAA
Mary Orlando is Assistant Vice President of Member Experience - Financial Foundations based in USAA’s Phoenix campus. In this role, she leads teams located in Phoenix, Colorado Springs and Tampa who provide our members with Mortgage, Deposit and other Banking products. She joined USAA in September 2011.
Before coming to USAA, Mary's career was focused on banking in various leadership roles with Chase Bank in Home Equity and Consumer Lending in originations and servicing as well as Internal Audit. She started her career as a CPA with Price Waterhouse in Phoenix and Dallas. She has also served in leadership roles for a number of community and professional organizations including the Phoenix Race for the Cure where she acted as Treasurer and Grant Committee Chairman and as the head of the Consumer Banking Association’s peer group for Equity Lending.
Mary graduated from Miami University in Ohio with a bachelor's degree in Accounting. Mary and her husband, Jeff, have one child, Jennifer.
USAA prides itself on providing exceptional experiences every time to its members and has consistently received outstanding awards and ratings for member service. Recent accolades include top recognitions from JD Power and Forrester Research, Inc., as well as top insurance ratings from Moody’s, AM Best and Standard & Poor’s. Also, USAA ranked in Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2010-2012.
Adrian Paull
Vice President, Customer & Product Support
Honeywell Aerospace
Adrian Paull has more than 20 years of leadership experience in customer support, business management and business development during his tenure at Honeywell.
Since June 2005, Paull has led Honeywell's worldwide resources for Aerospace Customer and Product Support. These include Technical Operations staff, Customer Care, Customer Support Solutions employees and regional staff who are deployed within the Defense and Space, Air Transport and Regional, and Business and General Aviation market segments.
Prior to his current role, Paull was vice president of Customer Services for Honeywell's Aerospace Electronic Systems business, leading a strategic business enterprise that encompassed 1,600 employees strategically located at 15 locations in the Americas, Europe and the Asia Pacific regions.
He joined Honeywell, then Sperry Flight Systems, in 1980 as a systems technician in Basingstoke, United Kingdom, and was promoted to avionics project engineer for the company within British Airways' operation at London's Heathrow Airport in 1983. He subsequently became an international customer engineer for flight test and avionics development for the British Aerospace 146/RJ before accepting an assignment in Phoenix in 1989 as a Customer Support manager.
Paull returned to Europe in 1994 as international manager for commercial business development, leading market development and strategic planning through an international network of business development managers and playing an instrumental role in managing customer relationships. He was promoted to director of Customer Support in 1997, overseeing Honeywell's business and service centers in the United Kingdom and France.
A native of London, Paull has a bachelor's degree in systems and control engineering from Buckinghamshire College and an MBA with an emphasis in finance from the University of Phoenix. He is a member of the Institute of Incorporated Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
A resident of Scottsdale, Arizona, Paull and his wife, Victoria, are the parents of three children. His interests include music, literature and technology.
Edward W. Petrozelli
President
The INSIGHT Group
Ed has extensive experience in product and services strategy development, business development, sales management/marketing and organizational effectiveness. After 30 successful years at IBM, he retired in 2003 as a Senior Executive and member of the Senior Management Group. He held general management positions in several global IBM businesses with revenue responsibility over $1 billion. Ed’s last assignment was General Manager of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Solutions.
Ed was also an IBM Corporate Emerging Business Opportunity (EBO) Executive with responsibility for establishing high growth businesses in emerging markets and was the executive lead on coverage transformation.
Prior to joining The INSIGHT Group he assisted in client mergers and acquisitions engagements with venture capital firms and private investment banking firms such as Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Inc
At INSIGHT, Ed is responsible for Business Development and Market Plan Development. He has led numerous consulting engagements with INSIGHT clients in the areas of strategy, go-to market plans, services initiatives, developing new business models and global coverage structures.
Ed serves on the board of advisors of Arizona State University’s Center for Services Leadership.
Michelle Proctor
Director of Innovation
FedEx Services
In Michelle’s 17 years at FedEx, she has lead the development of marketing strategy in multiple areas including Catalog, Market Segmentation, Automated Solutions, www.fedex.com and most recently Innovation. As the Director of Innovation, Michelle has been instrumental in the creation of the SenseAware platform including the product development, sales, alliance program, customer experience management and research, branding and software interface. She has been the lead on the co-creation effort and the SenseAware Customer Councils themselves. Michelle is a people focused leader and is passionate about people development. So much so, that she was selected to lead FedEx’s People First program aimed at creating programs targeted at investing in employee development and leadership.
Prior to FedEx, Michelle worked at Smith & Nephew in the International Marketing Department developing their international marketing campaigns and go to market activities. Michelle holds a B.A. and Executive M.B.A. from the University of Memphis. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the distinction of being a two time winner of FedEx’s highest honor- the Five Star award. She serves on the FedEx Women’s Network and is the Executive Chair of The Conference Board’s Council of Innovation. She is active in the community and keeps things in perspective with four little girls at home that keep her very busy!
Jagannath Rao
President, Customer Services Division
Siemens Industry, Inc.
Responsible for directing and growing the Customer Services
business in the USA.
Rao joined Siemens in 1985 in Chennai, India as a trainee engineer. He has worked in India, Germany and Singapore before moving to the US. Has held various senior and general management positions such as Regional Sales manager for the Oil & Gas business, VP for the Oil & Gas business for Asia-Pacific, as well as the Vice President I&S Singapore including the Water Hub for Asia Pacific. Most recently was SVP Water Technologies International business responsible for all Water business outside the USA.
Born in Jamshedpur, India and raised in Bangalore. Mr. Rao holds a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Bangalore University in 1984 and a post graduation in engineering from the National university of Singapore in 2001. He enjoys music and golf.
Shannon Rawlins
Director, Sales and Operations Planning
First Solar
Shannon Rawlins is the Director of S&OP and Order Management at First Solar with responsibilities for Global Sales and Operations Planning, Customer Service, Contract Management and Order Fulfillment. Prior to joining First Solar, Shannon worked in various customer facing positions including: Planning, Customer Support, Sales Operations, Portfolio Management and Quality at Dana Corporation and Dana Commercial Credit. Dana Commercial Credit won the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award in the service sector. Shannon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Lourdes College and an MBA from Bowling Green State University.
Dennis Reno
Vice President, Customer Experience
Oracle
Dennis Reno is Vice President of Customer Experience for Oracle Corporation's $13B Global Customer Support (GCS) division. He oversees the customer experience for Oracle's Customer Service and Support portal. Dennis has also managed service for Oracle's largest customers and manages programs tailored for strategic accounts, global Voice of the Customer analysis and assessment, and worldwide Support Communications and Engagement. Dennis and his team are accountable for ensuring that all of Oracle's customers have a world class support experience through the design, development, and implementation of strategic programs focused on driving long-term loyalty.
Dennis joined Oracle in April of 2008 as part of the BEA Systems, Inc. While at BEA, he served as Senior Vice President of World Wide Services, where he led global customer service operations, technical support, professional services, and technical training. Prior to his time at BEA, Dennis held a range of senior and executive leaderships roles in customer service at several Silicon Valley companies, including Plumtree Software, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Chemdex.Com, Greenlight.com, and Voysys Corporation. Dennis was part of the executive task force assembled to help Continental Airlines emerge from bankruptcy in the early 1990s and emerge as the top airline in customer satisfaction rated by JD Power and Associates. Earlier in his career, Dennis oversaw customer service teams at Pacific Bell.
Residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, Dennis holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California State University – Hayward; an MBA from St. Mary's College; and a PhD in Organizational Psychology, also from St. Mary's College.
Dave Ridley
Senior Vice President of Marketing and Revenue Management
Southwest Airlines
Davis "Dave" Ridley is Senior Vice President, Marketing and Revenue Management for Southwest Airlines, an $11.0 Billion in revenue/34,000 Employee airline. Southwest is the largest U.S. airline in terms of domestic passengers carried and has been the only airline to be profitable every year since 1973.
In his current job, Dave is responsible for building and maintaining the brand while maximizing Company revenues. This includes leadership and direction of Southwest's pricing; inventory (seat) management; advertising and promotion; loyalty program; and southwest.com.
Since joining Southwest in 1988, Dave has served as Senior Vice President, People and Leadership Development; Vice President, Ground Operations; and Vice President, Marketing and Sales. He has been a member of the Executive Planning Committee, the CEO led committee responsible for Company strategy and policy, since 1998.
Dave graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975 with a BBA and earned an MBA from Southern Methodist University in 1981. Prior to Southwest Airlines, Dave worked in marketing and business development capacities with three Dallas area businesses. Dave and his wife, Mary Flo, have been married for thirty years and have two married daughters and a son in college.
Lee Scanzano
Vice President, Customer Care
Cox Communications
Lee Scanzano is vice president of customer care for Cox Communications Arizona. She is responsible for all facets of Cox's customer care department including care centers in Phoenix and Tucson, as well as outsourced operations in North Dakota and New York State.
Scanzano came to Cox from Bank One where she was vice president of customer care. Prior to that, she served as the senior vice president of customer care with the Gale Group. She has also held numerous positions with American Express in New York and Arizona. While at American Express, she held the role of business leader and senior service delivery leader for the telephone service center, at one point managing a staff of 1,200 employees. Scanzano is the recipient of numerous business awards for her innovative leadership and excellent results.
Scanzano currently serves as the board chair for the Better Business Bureau and serves on the advisory board of the Center for Services Leadership, part of the W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University.
Scanzano and her husband reside in Carefree and have one daughter who attends the University of Arizona.
Eric Senesi
Vice President and General Manager, Worldwide Customer Service and Support
Agilent Technologies
Eric Senesi joined Hewlett-Packard in 1980 in the Grenoble division after working as an R&D engineer in a French company. After a few years in marketing, he became a service manager for the computer group. He then held a number of service management positions and in 1996 he became the worldwide Product Support Service General Manager for the Hewlett-Packard Healthcare Solution Group in Andover, Mass. When Agilent was created in 1999, Eric was appointed director of Human Resources for Agilent Europe - based in Geneva, Switzerland - to manage the legal separation from HP. In 2003, he moved to California as Vice President of Human Resources to participate to the development of Agilent Life Sciences and Chemical Analysis group. He is currently the Worldwide Customer Services and Support Vice President and General Manager for Agilent Electronic measurement Business.
Eric has successfully led numerous business & organizational transformations, of increased complexity, across multiple industries (Life Sciences, Computer, Electronic industries) and with different functional or general management roles. He is a proven change management leader able to operate across organizational boundaries within international and multicultural environments. During his Human Resource management roles he leveraged his business management experience to help Business leadership teams developing the organization capabilities necessary to accelerate execution of business strategies.
Eric is a native of France where he earned an Electronic Engineer diploma (MSEE) and studied Business Management. He currently lives in California in the San Francisco bay area.
Joe Shaheen
Director - Infrastructure & Range Services, GM - Boeing Service Company
The Boeing Company
Joe Shaheen is the director and general manager of Logistics Information Management Systems, part of Training Systems and Government Services (TSGS), a division of Global Services & Support (GS&S). Shaheen leads the integration of Boeing subsidiaries Tapestry Solutions and Miro Technologies to provide integrated logistics solutions and asset management solutions across multiple fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft platforms. As GS&S director of Program Management and Lean+, Shaheen is responsible for ensuring best practices and systems are used to drive program performance.
Prior to these positions, Shaheen was director and general manager of Boeing’s Infrastructure & Range Services subdivision, responsible for Information Services, Infrastructure Support Services, and Range and Technical Services in support of Department of Defense and U.S. government agencies at more than 20 locations worldwide.
While with Infrastructure & Range Services, Shaheen was instrumental in leading organizational effectiveness change, developed a set of Service Management Best Practices and led the team to consecutive years of improved annual financial returns and productivity
With more than 29 years at Boeing, Shaheen has held a number of functional and program management roles, including director of the International KC-767 Tanker program where he was responsible for development, modification and flight test of the KC-767 Tankers in support of the Italy and Japan customers.
Prior to his International Tankers assignment, Shaheen led the team responsible for establishing the Connexion by Boeing Service Operations commercial business, including Customer Care, Product Support and the development and management of the Network and Enterprise Operations Centers. The assignment entailed the acquisition and management of space resources to support the company’s venture into high speed internet and information services for mobile platforms.
Shaheen was also program manager of the Australian F-111 C program, providing technical and management leadership in support of the successful development, modification and flight test of the first prototype aircraft.
In 2009 he was appointed as Member of the Board to Arizona State University’s Center for Services Leadership.
Shaheen is a graduate of San Diego State University and holds a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and Science as well as a master’s degree in Business Management from the University of La Verne in La Verne, California.
Dorian Stone
Principal
McKinsey & Company
Dorian Stone is a Principal in the San Francisco Office of McKinsey & Company, and has been a member of McKinsey since 2001. Today, Dorian is a leader in McKinsey's North American Service Operations practice, and leads McKinsey's North American Customer Experience practice in financial services.
Dorian serves a wide variety of clients, with a primary focus on the financial sector across most operations and transformation issues. Dorian also sits on the Filene Institute research board, serving the credit union industry and on Arizona State University's Center for Service Leadership corporate board.
From 1996-1999, Dorian was Program Director for Peace Corps' Small Business Development program in Panama and--prior to that--was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama.
From 1993-1996, Dorian worked in the credit union industry and helped build a managed care employee benefit cooperative for the California Credit Union League called the League Benefits Trust.
Dorian has his BA in Economics and Psychology from Pitzer College of the Claremont Colleges, and his MBA and MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania/Wharton. Dorian enjoys skiing, sailing, running and biking in his free time.
Peter Strimaitis
General Manager, Americas GE HCIT Radiology Services
GE Healthcare
Pete is currently the General Manager of Americas HCIT Radiology Services at GE Healthcare, based outside of Chicago, in Barrington, Illinois.
Pete has been with the General Electric Company for more than 13 years. He began his career with GE Healthcare in Milwaukee, Wi. His GE experience includes manufacturing, business operations, service and P&L management. Today, his
primary responsibilities are in Service, including service & support strategy, professional services and full P&L management for the Americas business. He also leads all strategic programs and educational services teams within HCIT. Pete’s executive leadership experience in both industrial and commercial operations led to his promotion as Director, Americas PACS Service in 2008. Pete has been in his current role since January, 2011. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17B unit of General Electric Company. Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100
countries.
Prior to his GE career, Pete worked at Newell Corporation, in the consumer goods industry, where he held a variety of management roles in manufacturing, supply chain fulfillment, materials management and sourcing. He is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt.
Pete holds an MBA degree from Marquette University , and two undergraduate degrees from Lewis University.
Personal interests include running (completed Milwaukee Marathon), travel, wine collecting, coaching baseball and all outdoor activities with his wife and two children.
Tracy Tannenbaum
Vice President of Service Excellence
Banner Health
Tracy Tannenbaum has more than 20 years of diverse experience as a customer service, marketing and operations professional with a passion for solving problems. Tracy currently serves as Vice President of Service Excellence focused on creating a uniquely positive brand experience across Banner’s continuum of care. Prior to joining Banner in early 2012, Tracy was the Chief Customer Officer at Abrazo Healthcare. She also held the positions of Vice President of Marketing and Customer Analytics at Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. in San Diego, CA and Vice President of Marketing positions at Centex Homes and The Princeton Review. Tracy began her career at AT&T where she spent over 10 years working in diverse roles as part of their "fast track" program for high potential executives.
Tracy received her BS from Penn State in Marketing. She also received her MBA at the Stern School of Business at New York University with a triple major (Marketing, Management and International Business) and graduated with honors while working full time.
Tracy is an avid traveler who has visited over 80 countries and every continent. She is also an active member in several non-profit organizations. Tracy moved to the Phoenix area seven years ago and resides in Scottsdale with her husband and two children.
Bruce Thorn
Senior Vice President Store Operations and Services
PetSmart
Bruce Thorn joined PetSmart in 2007 as Vice President, Supply Chain Solutions and was promoted to Senior Vice President, Supply Chain in December 2009. Prior to joining PetSmart, he served as Chief Operating Officer for LESCO Inc., a public company and leader in the professional turf care industry. He previously held leadership roles with Gap, Inc., Cintas Corporation and the U.S. Army, where he earned airborne ranger status and the rank of Captain. Thorn holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from the United States Military Academy and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Cincinnati. He is married to Gabriella Thorn and they are pet parents to a Black Labrador mix named Casey.
Victor F. Trastek
Former CEO
Mayo Clinic, Arizona
Victor F. Trastek, M.D. is the former CEO of Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Dr. Trastek is currently a Consultant in Professionalism, Ethics, and Leadership Development.
He began his medical residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, in 1977. He joined the staff in 1984, serving in a variety of roles, including Surgeon in the Section of Thoracic Surgery and Chair of the Divisions of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.
In 1999, he joined the staff at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, where he served as Chair of the Department of Surgery. He was named CEO in 2002.
A graduate of Northwestern University, he earned his medical degree at the University of Wisconsin, and served a Surgical Internship at Northwestern University Hospitals prior to his General Surgery, and Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgical Residencies at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He was a Mayo Foundation Scholar spending six months at Toronto General Hospital.
Merrill Tutton
President, Emeritus, AT&T (UK) Ltd., & Adjunct Professor of Marketing
W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University
Merrill Tutton is currently Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Arizona State University's W. P. Carey Graduate School of Business. His focus is the strategic marketing and management of services in today's increasingly competitive environment. He was also Chair of the Board of Advisors for the Center for Services Leadership at the W.P. Carey School for a number of years.
Before joining the ASU faculty Tutton was an executive with AT&T for 32 years where he held a number of roles in engineering, marketing, operations, and sales, culminating in key executive positions. The most significant being President of the Consumer Communications Services business, the Long Distance and Consumer Services that represented about $25 billion of the firms sales. While Vice President of Special Long Distance (Operator services and Calling Cards) Tutton was involved in programs to change the role of operators and customer service people from an expense to be managed to a customer contact asset. His role in the evolution of the calling card and its underlying technology set the stage for the development of the AT&T Universal Card a multibillion dollar business that was subsequently sold to Citi Corp. From 1993 to late 1997 when he retired, Tutton was located in London as President AT&T UK, building a business to compete with BT in communications outsourcing and consumer/ business voice and data networking arenas. During this period he was also President of AT&T Europe Middle East and Africa involved with international long distance, data networking and co-led the activities to develop the technology platforms for AT&T's global business networking capabilities.
Tutton has a B S.C.E. from Iowa Sate University, attended the American Studies Program at Williams College, The Wharton Schools' Advanced Marketing Program and received a Master of Science in Management in Stanford University's Sloan Program.
Tutton currently lives in Scottsdale AZ. With his wife Jacquie, they have two sons and seven grandchildren.
Mark Vigoroso
Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Alliances
Servigistics
As Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Alliances at Servigistics, Mark is responsible for the development and execution of global marketing strategy, to include positioning, branding, demand creation, public relations, product marketing and strategic partnerships. He brings more than 12 years experience in the service and supply chain industry to the company having held senior positions in product management, business development, and marketing with procurement and supply chain technology providers.
Prior to Servigistics, Mark served as Chief Services Strategist at Qualcomm Enterprise Services (QES) where he worked with industrial, commercial, medical, construction equipment, and other OEMs and their service providers to develop and sustain business cases for "Smart Services" solutions and to commercialize these offerings for mass-market adoption. He also led strategic market development for a machine-to-machine joint venture between Qualcomm and Verizon Wireless called nPhase.
Before joining Qualcomm, Mark spent five years at the Aberdeen Group, a research firm focused on the global technology-driven value chain where as Chief Research Officer, he founded the market-leading Service Chain Management research practice and the Chief Service Officer’s Summit Series. During his tenure at Aberdeen, Mark researched, published, and consulted on technology and business best practices in field service optimization, service inventory management, remote product service, service contract management, and other service supply chain disciplines.
Mark is a board member at Arizona State University's Center for Services Leadership (CSL), a member of The First Wednesday Group, an executive roundtable for services and support leaders, and an advisory board member of the International Quality and Productivity Center (IQPC)'s Service Management conference series. Mark earned his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, with concentrations in Marketing, Finance, and Strategy. In 2008, Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine named Mark a "Pro to Know."
Beth Walker
Chair, Department of Marketing and AT&T Professor of Services Marketing & Management
W.P. Carey School of Bunsiness
Beth (Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University) is the Department Chair for the W. P. Carey Department of Marketing and the AT & T Professor of Services Marketing and Management at Arizona State University. Beth most recently served as the Associate Dean for the W. P. Carey MBA and Faculty Director for the W. P. Carey Evening MBA Program. Beth’s research interests are centered on cross-functional working relationships in the development of marketing strategy and on isolating the characteristics of high-performance account managers. Beth’s research has been published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Sloan Management Review, Journal of Business Research, Psychology and Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Journal of Services Research, Research in Consumer Behavior, and in other scholarly publications. For their 2011 paper in the Journal of Marketing, Beth and her co-authors received the 2011 Harold H. Maynard Award, reflecting the most significant contribution to marketing theory and thought. She was also the recipient of the Richard Beckhard Prize for her article in MIT Sloan Management Review. Beth also received the Malcolm S. Woldenberg Marketing Chair Award for her contributions to the Journal of Business Research. For her teaching contributions, Beth has been recognized by Arizona State University as a Wakonse Fellow and by the College of Business with the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award. In terms of service to the marketing discipline, Beth is the current past-president of the American Marketing Association Academic Division, served as the president of the American Marketing Association Academic Division, has served as a co-chair of the 2005 AMA Summer Educator’s Conference, and is serving as an elected member of Academic Council, the governing board of the AMA for educators. In addition, she was the co-chair of the 2007 John A. Howard Dissertation Award which recognizes excellence in dissertations that advance marketing knowledge and serve as a stimulus for research and teaching. Beth has consulted on strategy issues for State Farm Insurance, IBM Global Services, Lucent Technologies, Yellow Transportation, Honeywell, and AT&T.
Jeff Wampler
Chief Executive Officer
Agile Pursuits Franchising Inc.
Jeff has 25 years of experience with Procter & Gamble and now serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Agile Pursuits Franchising Inc. (APFI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Procter & Gamble Company. As CEO, Jeff is responsible for the operations, development, expansion, marketing and franchise development of the company’s Tide Dry Cleaners® and Mr. Clean Car Wash® businesses worldwide.
Jeff has worked in Franchising for P&G for the past 4 Years and most recently served as Executive Vice President for Strategy & Marketing for Agile Pursuits Franchising Inc. Jeff’s leadership has been instrumental in creating and expanding the Tide Dry Cleaners and Mr. Clean Car Wash business models. Jeff has worked on Fabric & Home Care brands like Tide and Mr. Clean for P&G for the past 8 years. He will continue to leverage the best P&G has to offer coupled with the 100+ years of franchising experience that we have assembled on the APFI team to deliver unit economics for franchisees as well as drive Mr. Clean Car Wash and Tide Dry Cleaners to market leadership.
At P&G Jeff has worked on dozens of brands in multiple countries. Prior to his current work in Franchising, Jeff spent 5 years as Director for P&G Fabric & Home Care business in the Latin America Andean Region managing a $600MM business involving 17 brands and 5 countries. He has also previously worked in Procter & Gamble Professional managing P&G’s food business in the away-from-home food service sector. Jeff has worked on a variety of brands in brand management such as Folgers, Millstone, Pringles, Actonel, Secret and Metamucil. He also started his career in Customer Business Development for P&G in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Jeff has an undergraduate degree in Business from Northern Kentucky University and an MBA from Xavier University where he met his future wife on his first day in the library. Jeff has been married to Maria Elvira for 16 years, and they have 4 children ages 6 to 14. They have lived in Cincinnati since 1995 except for 5 years spent with Procter & Gamble in Caracas, Venezuela from 2002 to 2007. Jeff maintains his passion for soccer since playing in college as he serves as a coach for his kid’s school soccer teams. He also enjoys international travel and speaking Spanish with his family and friends. Jeff finds additional time to mentor inner-city under privileged children and serves on the board of the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative.
James R. Weigand
President
DuPont Sustainable Solutions
James R. Weigand is President, DuPont Sustainable Solutions. In his role, Mr. Weigand leads a global consulting and services business specializing in workplace safety, process safety management, energy and environmental management. The vision of the business is to lead the transformation of workplaces and work cultures to become safer, more efficient and environmentally sustainable. By applying DuPont knowledge, real-world experience and science-driven innovation, DSS delivers tailored solutions to help clients achieve enduring results that drive business success.
Mr. Weigand began work with DuPont in 1981 in Wilmington, Delaware. Over the next 20 years, he held a variety of roles in finance, marketing, sales, corporate planning and business management both domestically and overseas.
In 2003, he was named Global Business Director for Advanced Fibers Systems, where he had global business leadership responsibilities for products under the Kevlar® and Nomex® brands sold into a variety of markets including military, government, automotive, aerospace and oil and gas. In September 2007, he was named Vice President and General Manager of DuPont Safety Resources. He was appointed to his current role of President, DuPont Sustainable Solutions in October 2009.
Mark A. Wheeler
Divisional Vice President, Customer Experience
Abbott Laboratories
Mark is currently the Divisional Vice President of Customer Experience for Abbott Diagnostics, a division of Abbott Laboratories, based in North Chicago, Illinois.
He began his career with Abbott in London, England, where he held several positions in the United Kingdom, including Field Service Manager, ISO Management Auditor, and Account Manager of Sales, responsible for the sales of all diagnostics products in London. Mark moved to Saudi Arabia as a Sales Manager, based in Riyadh, and shortly thereafter was promoted to the position of General Manager, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. He then moved to Germany, where he was first named Customer Service Director for Europe, based in Frankfurt, and subsequently named Area Business Development Director and was responsible for the marketing, launch, and promotion of the diagnostics product portfolio across Europe.
Prior to his Abbott career, Mark worked at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, a science based research institute in Oxford, England, where he graduated his Apprenticeship as an Electronics Engineer. He then spent a number of years in the United Kingdom as a Space Flight Wireman, completing several projects for the European Space Agency (E.S.A.) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (N.A.S.A.)
Personal interests include soccer, running, diving, travel, and golf. Mark holds a USSF soccer coaching license, a PADI diving certification, and has completed the London Marathon. He is married to Jeanette, and they have three children.
Mark currently serves as an advisory board member for Arizona State University's Center for Service Leadership, based in Phoenix, Arizona, and is also a board member of the Libertyville Township Soccer Complex.
Mark holds a diploma in Microelectronics from Reading College of Technology, Berkshire, England.
Christopher J. Zane
President
Zanes Cycles
At age 43, Christopher Zane is already a 26-year veteran of the retail bicycle industry. His story includes getting a state tax ID number at age 12, buying his first bike shop at age 16, and before he reached the age of 30, he was the owner of Zane's Cycles, the largest bike shop in Connecticut. Today, with only one location, Zane's Cycles is one of the top 3 largest retail bicycle stores in the nation.
Zane's unique approach to marketing includes strategies such as continual learning, the lifetime value of a customer, guerrilla marketing, boot strapping, community-relations, cost-controlled customer service, and image branding.
Zane has positioned himself at the forefront of the industry by continuously setting standards in customer loyalty and creative marketing. Since 1985, he has been accumulating awards such as the BBB Award of Recognition for Customer Service/ Outstanding Business Practices; New Haven Advocate Readers Poll, Best Bicycle Shop, New Haven County, 1993-2005; he was voted one of "the 30 most influential people in the bicycle industry"; North America's Best Bicycle Retailer, 1998 and 1999 North American Bicyclist Magazine, Mass Mutual Blue Chip Bicycle Co.'s largest dealer worldwide. Most recently, Zane's Cycles was honored with Fast Company Magazine's, 2006 Customer First Award and was named the 2006 Connecticut Retailer of the year.
Zane's cutting-edge marketing techniques have been used as case studies in over a dozen college text books worldwide and has been the subject of several news articles in publications such as, The Harvard Business Review, Inc. Magazine, the Associated Press, Venture Link, Fortune Magazine, Nations Business, Emerging Business, and Zane is frequently featured on WCBS's, "The Wall Street Journal's Small Business Report" with Joe Connolly.
Zane is a sought after speaker who has presented at Yale University's Business and Economic Forum; the Quis 9 International Marketing Symposium; twice to The Conference Board; Inc's Annual Growing the Company Conference; Bell Atlantic National Sales/Marketing Meeting; Inc's 3rd Annual CEO Symposium; and the WCBS Newsradio 88 Business Breakfast Forum, Managing the Millennium.
Chris is currently a board member of several for-profit and non-profit organizations. He has recently been named to the board of directors for The Trailer Depot, the Andriole Group, Vista International, and ASU's, The Center for Services Leadership. Quinnipiac University's business school has also appointed Chris, Entrepreneur in Residence.
Robert Zollars
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Vocera Communications, Inc.
Robert Zollars is Chairman and CEO of Vocera. He joined the company in May 2007 and has 30 years of experience leading healthcare and technology organizations. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of Wound Care Solutions, the leading operator of outsourced chronic wound care centers. For six years prior to that, Mr. Zollars was Chairman and CEO of Neoforma, Inc. (Nasdaq: NEOF), a leading healthcare technology company focused on the supply chain that serviced 1,200 hospital and 465 supplier customers. Before Neoforma, he was EVP for Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH), a $75 billion healthcare product and service company, where he was responsible for five wholly owned subsidiaries: Pyxis Corporation, Owen Healthcare, Medicine Shoppe International, Cardinal International, and Cardinal's information technology businesses. Mr. Zollars came to Cardinal from Baxter International (NYSE: BAX), where he led four different operating divisions ranging in size from $100 million in revenue to over $5 billion in revenue. He started his career at American Hospital Supply Corporation which was acquired by Baxter in 1985.
Mr. Zollars has an MBA in Finance from John F. Kennedy University and graduated magna cum laude with a BS in Marketing from Arizona State University.
He serves as the Chairman of the Board of Advisors for the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University. He is also a Director of VWR International, and Diamond Foods.
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