Tag: Distinguished Alumni



Olin Business School honored four distinguished alumni on April 22 at a morning panel discussion and an evening celebration.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is a tradition—now in its 35th year—in which Olin recognizes the accomplishments of our outstanding alumni who have become leaders in their community and have attained distinction in their careers. Those who are honored embody the core values of vision, innovation and leadership and have each made a positive impact on business and the communities in which they live. 

Chuck Cohn, BSBA ’08

Chuck Cohn is the founder and CEO of Nerdy (Varsity Tutors). Nerdy is a leading direct-to-consumer platform for live online learning. The company offers a comprehensive online learning destination that enables the delivery of scaled, high-quality, live instruction for learners of all ages across more than 3,000 subjects. Through its flagship business, Varsity Tutors, the company delivered over 4.7 million hours of live learning in 2020 across multiple learning formats including one-on-one instruction, small group classes, large format group classes and adaptive self-study. Since the start of the pandemic, Nerdy has helped over 500,000 students access free online classes.

Cohn has a BSBA in finance and entrepreneurship from Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis and lives in St. Louis, with his wife and children. He serves on the board of the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington University and on the leadership council of the Danforth Plant Science Center.

Jeff Davis, PMBA ’95

Jeff Davis is chairman and chief executive officer for Perficient, a leading global digital consultancy. He leads daily business operations and directs the development and execution of the company’s global growth strategy and initiatives. Davis joined the company as chief operating officer in 2001. He was promoted to president in 2003 and was named chief executive officer and appointed to the board of directors in 2009.

Davis has a strong technology management and consulting background, with a blend of nearly 30 years of experience working at Big Four as well as entrepreneurial firms. Leading a team of tenured executives, he oversees all Perficient business groups and functional disciplines, including marketing, sales and client delivery. He has played a central role in Perficient’s dramatic growth, managing the company’s organic expansion and leading Perficient’s M&A program, including the integration and assimilation of acquired businesses.

Under his leadership, Perficient consistently delivers operating metrics among the industry’s best, and has grown into a leading healthcare consulting and strategy firm. Named the sixth-largest healthcare IT consulting firm by Modern Healthcare in 2020, Perficient supports many of the most prominent health organizations in the U.S., including nine of the 10 largest healthcare providers and the five largest health insurance plans.

Perficient has been routinely recognized by technology partners and industry organizations with high-profile growth and performance awards, including being named a 2020 Microsoft Health Innovation Award Winner for enabling personalized care.

During Davis’ tenure, Perficient has grown to nearly 7,000 colleagues and more than $900 million in revenue, transitioned from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market to the Nasdaq Global Select market, and has been added to both the Russell and S&P SmallCap 600 indexes.

Jill Ackerman Jones, EMBA ’06

Jill Ackerman Jones has over 20 years of experience in multiple disciplines and functions at the EVP, SVP and VP level. Her widespread experience spans regional leadership roles of domestic and international regions, global production and supply chain leadership, and finance leadership roles.

Her most recent position was EVP for Brown-Forman Corp., president of North America, CCSA (Caribbean and Central and South America), IMEA (India, Middle East and Africa) and GTR (Global Travel Retail).

Jones was a member of the CEO’s Executive Leadership team, where she was a strategic partner to the CEO, participating in the establishment of a clearly defined vision, goals and action plans with the objective of maximizing growth, profit and ROIC.

In her EVP, regional leadership role, which encompassed all sales and marketing efforts for the regions she oversaw, Jones directed strategic work for key geographies within her region and was responsible for attainment of short-term and long-term financial and operational goals. Her regions were responsible for delivering approximately two-thirds of the company’s net sales and gross profit.

Jones is a board of manager for Breakthru Beverage Group, one of the top three beverage alcohol distributors in the United States and is a prior board of director for First Beverage Group, a private equity company, and on civic boards and trade boards including the National Association of Manufacturers, Kentucky Association of Manufacturers, Family & Children’s Place and the Louisville Ballet.

Marie Winters, MBA ’81

Marie Winters, CFA, CAIA, is a senior vice president for Northern Trust Asset Management with $1.3 trillion of assets under management. She leads a research team supporting high yield and investment grade corporate bond portfolios. Additionally, she oversees sustainable investing initiatives for Northern’s Fixed Income group globally.

Winters began her career at JPMorgan Chase, where she served as a leader and participant in new departments and initiatives for high yield securities, distressed investing, and M&A due diligence.

She is the recent president and a current executive officer of Chicago Finance Exchange, a professional organization for senior executive women in finance. At present, she serves as a member of CFA Institute’s Education Advisory Committee, a global committee of senior investment practitioners that advises the institute on criteria for credentialing CFA candidates. Additionally, Winters is a former chair and executive officer of CFA Society Chicago. In 2019, Crain’s Chicago recognized her as one of the Notable Women in Finance. She earned her MBA in finance and economics at Olin and her BA in mathematics at Knox College.




Olin Business School will honor four distinguished alumni on Friday, April 22, at a morning panel discussion and an evening celebration, both of which are open to the greater Olin community to attend. Register here for the morning panel discussion and here for the evening celebration.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is a tradition—now in its 35th year—in which Olin recognizes the accomplishments of our outstanding alumni who have become leaders in their community and have attained distinction in their careers. Those who are honored embody the core values of vision, innovation and leadership and have each made a positive impact on business and the communities in which they live. 

Chuck Cohn, BSBA ’08

Chuck Cohn is the founder and CEO of Nerdy (Varsity Tutors). Nerdy is a leading direct-to-consumer platform for live online learning. The company offers a comprehensive online learning destination that enables the delivery of scaled, high-quality, live instruction for learners of all ages across more than 3,000 subjects. Through its flagship business, Varsity Tutors, the company delivered over 4.7 million hours of live learning in 2020 across multiple learning formats including one-on-one instruction, small group classes, large format group classes and adaptive self-study. Since the start of the pandemic, Nerdy has helped over 500,000 students access free online classes.

Cohn has a BSBA in finance and entrepreneurship from Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis and lives in St. Louis, with his wife and children. He serves on the board of the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington University and on the leadership council of the Danforth Plant Science Center.

Jeff Davis, PMBA ’95

Jeff Davis is chairman and chief executive officer for Perficient, a leading global digital consultancy. He leads daily business operations and directs the development and execution of the company’s global growth strategy and initiatives. Davis joined the company as chief operating officer in 2001. He was promoted to president in 2003 and was named chief executive officer and appointed to the board of directors in 2009.

Davis has a strong technology management and consulting background, with a blend of nearly 30 years of experience working at Big Four as well as entrepreneurial firms. Leading a team of tenured executives, he oversees all Perficient business groups and functional disciplines, including marketing, sales and client delivery. He has played a central role in Perficient’s dramatic growth, managing the company’s organic expansion and leading Perficient’s M&A program, including the integration and assimilation of acquired businesses.

Under his leadership, Perficient consistently delivers operating metrics among the industry’s best, and has grown into a leading healthcare consulting and strategy firm. Named the sixth-largest healthcare IT consulting firm by Modern Healthcare in 2020, Perficient supports many of the most prominent health organizations in the U.S., including nine of the 10 largest healthcare providers and the five largest health insurance plans.

Perficient has been routinely recognized by technology partners and industry organizations with high-profile growth and performance awards, including being named a 2020 Microsoft Health Innovation Award Winner for enabling personalized care.

During Davis’ tenure, Perficient has grown to nearly 4,500 colleagues and $600 million in annual revenue, transitioned from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market to the Nasdaq Global Select market, and has been added to both the Russell and S&P SmallCap 600 indexes.

Jill Ackerman Jones, EMBA ’06

Jill Ackerman Jones has over 20 years of experience in multiple disciplines and functions at the EVP, SVP and VP level. Her widespread experience spans regional leadership roles of domestic and international regions, global production and supply chain leadership, and finance leadership roles.

Her most recent position was EVP for Brown-Forman Corp., president of North America, CCSA (Caribbean and Central and South America), IMEA (India, Middle East and Africa) and GTR (Global Travel Retail).

Jones was a member of the CEO’s Executive Leadership team, where she was a strategic partner to the CEO, participating in the establishment of a clearly defined vision, goals and action plans with the objective of maximizing growth, profit and ROIC.

In her EVP, regional leadership role, which encompassed all sales and marketing efforts for the regions she oversaw, Jones directed strategic work for key geographies within her region and was responsible for attainment of short-term and long-term financial and operational goals. Her regions were responsible for delivering approximately two-thirds of the company’s net sales and gross profit.

Jones is a board of manager for Breakthru Beverage Group, one of the top three beverage alcohol distributors in the United States and is a prior board of director for First Beverage Group, a private equity company, and on civic boards and trade boards including the National Association of Manufacturers, Kentucky Association of Manufacturers, Family & Children’s Place and the Louisville Ballet.

Marie Winters, MBA ’81

Marie Winters, CFA, CAIA, is a senior vice president for Northern Trust Asset Management with $1.3 trillion of assets under management. She leads a research team supporting high yield and investment grade corporate bond portfolios. Additionally, she oversees sustainable investing initiatives for Northern’s Fixed Income group globally.

Winters began her career at JPMorgan Chase, where she served as a leader and participant in new departments and initiatives for high yield securities, distressed investing, and M&A due diligence.

She is the recent president and a current executive officer of Chicago Finance Exchange, a professional organization for senior executive women in finance. At present, she serves as a member of CFA Institute’s Education Advisory Committee, a global committee of senior investment practitioners that advises the institute on criteria for credentialing CFA candidates. Additionally, Winters is a former chair and executive officer of CFA Society Chicago. In 2019, Crain’s Chicago recognized her as one of the Notable Women in Finance. She earned her MBA in finance and economics at Olin and her BA in mathematics at Knox College.

Pictured clockwise from top left: Chuck Cohn, Jeff Davis, Jill Ackerman Jones, Marie Winters


Olin Business School will honor four distinguished alumni on April 30 with a morning panel discussion and an evening celebration.

For more than 32 years, Olin Business School has recognized and presented Distinguished Alumni Awards honoring alumni who have attained distinction in their careers.

Those who will be honored share the characteristics of leadership: progressive thinking, high standards, uncompromising integrity, commitment, courage and confidence. Their careers serve as models for all Washington University students and alumni.

Andrew Rubin, BSBA ’98

CEO and cofounder, Illumio

As CEO and cofounder of Illumio, Andrew Rubin is responsible for the overall strategy and vision of the company. Illumio, founded in 2013, provides visibility, segmentation and control of all network communications across any data center or cloud. Large enterprises including Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, Salesforce and Oracle NetSuite trust Illumio to reduce cyber risk.

With deep expertise in segmentation, network security and regulatory and compliance management, Rubin is a frequent participant in panels, articles and podcasts for leading industry events and publications. Each year since 2015, Goldman Sachs has named him one of the “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs” as part of its Builders & Innovators program.

Prior to Illumio, Rubin was president and head of worldwide field operations at Cymtec, a leader in the intrusion detection market. Rubin graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BSBA in Finance. He was the first undergraduate student to win the Olin Cup, a business plan competition through the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Rubin now lives in California’s Silicon Valley with his wife and daughter.

Eric Veiel, MBA ’99

Cohead of global equity, head of US equity, T. Rowe Price

Eric Veiel is cohead of Global Equity, head of US Equity, chair of the Equity Steering Committee and a member of the Management Committee of T. Rowe Price. He is also the executive sponsor of WAVE, the firm’s business resource group whose mission is to increase the firm’s ability to attract, develop, advance and retain talented and principled women.

The Global Equity division is comprised of over 270 investment professionals based in Baltimore, New York, San Francisco, London, Zurich, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Sidney. The team is responsible for the management of over $850 billion of the firm’s $1.1 trillion in client assets and provides portfolios that meet client needs across a wide variety of investment styles, regions and market cap ranges.

Veiel has 20 years of investment experience, 14 of which have been with T. Rowe Price. He was previously a co-director of Equity Research for North America and co-portfolio manager of the U.S. Equity Structured Research Strategy. He joined the firm in 2005 as an investment analyst.

Veiel earned a BBA, magna cum laude, in finance from James Madison University. He also holds an MBA, with concentrations in finance and accounting, from Washington University, where he was a Charles F. Knight Scholar. Veiel resides outside of Annapolis, Maryland, with his wife, Lori (PhD ’04 psychology from Washington University), and their two children. 

Rob Vitale, PMBA ’94

President and CEO, Post Holdings Inc.

Rob Vitale has served as the president and CEO of Post Holdings since 2014. He joined the company during the time of its spinoff from Ralcorp and was the company’s chief financial officer from 2011-2014. He has been a member of the board of directors at Post Holdings since 2014.

During his time, the company has completed 15 major acquisitions and executed a variety of innovative financial transactions, including the creation and spinoff of Post’s active nutrition units into a new public company, BellRing Brands Inc. in 2019. He also serves as the executive chairman of the Board of Directors of BellRing Brands. These acquisitions and transactions have increased revenue from $900 million in fiscal 2012 to nearly $6 billion today.

Prior to Post, Vitale’s background included a history of organization leadership, transformative growth and acquisitions. He served as president and CEO of AHM Financial Group LLC, a diversified financial services firm, which grew fivefold in revenue during his time leading the company. Prior to AHM, he was a partner in Westgate Group LLC, a consumer products private equity firm. Early in his career, he worked at Boatmen’s Bancshares Inc. and KPMG. He received his Professional MBA from Washington University in St. Louis and a BSBA from St. Louis University.

Vitale and his wife live in St. Louis near the Danforth Campus. He has two grown children, a daughter in Chicago and a son in St. Louis.

Kelli P. Washington, CFA, BSBA ’94

Managing director, research and investment strategy, Cleveland Clinic Investment Office

Kelli P. Washington joined the Cleveland Clinic Investment Office in 2017. She is primarily responsible for monitoring portfolio asset allocation policies, maintaining the macroeconomic research function and collaborating with the CIO on research that directs tactical investment decisions and hedging strategies for the long-term investment pool. Additionally, Washington conducts manager due diligence across asset classes.

Prior to joining the Cleveland Clinic Investment Office, Washington was a managing director of investments with Cambridge Associates, where she was responsible for manager selection, investment implementation and strategy for a variety of nonprofit institutions. Before Cambridge Associates, she was an endowment officer at Bowdoin College as well as a senior due diligence analyst with Edward Jones Investments and portfolio manager with the Edward Jones Trust Co. in St. Louis.

Washington is the chair of the Alumni Board of Governors at Washington University in St. Louis and a former investment committee member for the Crittenton Women’s Union (now EMPath) in Boston. Washington is a CFA Charterholder, holds a BSBA from Washington University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.




Olin Business School will honor these distinguished alumni at a dinner on April 12 and with a symposium that morning. They’re innovators, corporate leaders, and benefactors.

For more than 30 years, Olin Business School has recognized and presented Distinguished Alumni Awards honoring alumni who have attained distinction in their careers. Those being honored share the characteristics of leadership: progressive thinking, high standards, uncompromising integrity, commitment, courage, and confidence. Their careers serve as models for all Washington University students and alumni.

They are recognized at a gala dinner celebration with family and friends, as well as past recipients, staff, and faculty of the business school.

Zack Boyers, MBA ’01

Zack Boyers

Zack Boyers

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp., St. Louis

Zack Boyers settled long ago into his professional home at US Bank, where for two dozen years he worked in affordable housing, economic development, renewable energy, commercial banking, structured finance, and direct and fund investments in the tax credit equity industry.

Today, from his top spot at U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp., Boyers provides leadership and strategic direction to a team of more than 400 people who manage tax credit and lending opportunities in the community development arena nationwide. More than $30 billion in commitments, distributed across every state in the country, is under the purview of Boyers and his team.

Boyers, who holds a BA with academic honors from Harvard University and an MBA from Olin Business School, currently serves on the boards of the St. Louis Regional Chamber, board chair at Crossroads College Preparatory School, board co-chair at Forward Through Ferguson, Invest STL.

Boyers is a former board member of Beyond Housing, the National Equity Fund, and the St. Louis Public Library as well as founding director of Arch Grants. He was a founding member of the Alliance for Economic Development as well as a member of the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association’s New Markets Tax Credit Council and the New Markets Tax Credit Coalition.

Boyers lives in downtown St. Louis with his wife, Rachel, and their two children.

Shirley Cunningham, MBA ’08

Shirley Cunningham

Shirley Cunningham

Executive Vice President, Ag Business and Enterprise Strategy, CHS Inc., Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota

Shirley Cunningham is executive vice president, Ag Business and Enterprise Strategy, for CHS Inc., the nation’s leading farmer-owned cooperative and a global energy, grains, and foods company. CHS supplies energy, crop nutrients, grain marketing services, animal feed, food, and food ingredients, along with business solutions, including insurance, financial, and risk-management services.

Cunningham joined CHS as executive vice president, Enterprise Strategy, in April 2013 before expanding her role in 2014. She leads the company’s aligned Ag Business platform, consisting of its International and North America Grain Marketing and Agronomy operations. She is also responsible for CHS Enterprise Strategy functions, including information technology, marketing communications, and planning and strategy.

Prior to joining CHS, Cunningham was the chief information officer for Monsanto Company, where her responsibilities included information technology and business management, including leading global IT operations, acquisitions, IT research and development, strategic planning, and enterprise initiatives.

In addition to her broad business expertise, Cunningham has extensive global experience, having led Monsanto’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa IT operations. She also held leadership positions with several companies in the United Kingdom.

Cunningham currently serves on the boards of Ventura Foods, LLC, Brea, California; Kemira Oyj, Helsinki, Finland; and Gildan, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

She lives in Minnesota with her husband Mike and has family back in Scotland. She frequently gets back to Scotland to visit her son Michael, daughter-in-law Linda and her four year old Grandson Ben.

Munir Mashooqullah, MBA ’98

Munir Mashooqullah

Munir Mashooqullah

Founder & Custodian, Synergies Worldwide, Thailand

When Munir Mashooqullah earned an MBA from Olin Business School in 1998, Synergies Worldwide, the textile and apparel quality assurance company he founded in 1987, was well on its way to becoming a global leader in apparel sourcing and supply chain management. Today, Synergies is among the top 10 global sourcing companies and counts Inditex Spain (owners of Zara, Breshka and others), Kik Germany, SOK Finland, and Oved 5 Star USA among its more than 75 global brands.

Mashooqullah began work in the textile industry in Pakistan in 1980 and became general manager of a vertical apparel manufacturing plant in 1983. Four years later, he founded Synergies in collaboration with Sunberg International France, establishing offices in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In January 2016, after 28 years at the helm, Mashooqullah turned over the company to a new leader, assuming the chairmanship.

He is co-founder and the chairman of Hertzman Media and is on the board or an adviser to various textile fibre, design, and food companies in Bangladesh, China, Pakistan and the EU. The founding trustee of the Institute of Business Management in Karachi, Pakistan, Mashooqullah was named to the Asian American Business Development Center’s 2010 list of 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in Business.

Mashooqullah is actively involved with the Asia Society and an active member of YPO International and CEO.org. He is deeply involved in computer literacy in Pakistan and poverty alleviation in villages in Bangladesh. He resides between Pakistan and UAE with his wife, Dr. Zeelaf Munir, and his three sons who reside in the region.

Richard Ritholz, BSBA 1984

Richard Ritholz

Richard Ritholz

Partner, Senior Portfolio Manager, and Head of Global Commodities Trading, Elliott Management Corporation, New York City

Richard Ritholz leads a team at Elliot Management Corporation that trades energy, metals, agricultural commodities, and soft commodities in the firm’s New York, London, and Hong Kong offices. Since his arrival in 2005, assets under the firm’s management increased from $4 billion to $35 billion, making Elliott one of the largest global commodity firms.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from Olin Business School in 1984, Ritholz went on to earn a master’s degree in business from Columbia University. His first job was with Mobil Oil Corporation, where his positions included head of European natural gas trading, based in The Hague, Netherlands. Ritholz left Mobil in 1998 to start JMR Energy Inc., an energy commodity trading adviser to institutional accounts and high-net- worth individuals.

Ritholz and his wife, Linda, are longtime supporters of Washington University. The couple established the Richard and Linda Ritholz Scholarship at the university, and they host an annual dinner for WashU’s basketball teams when they travel to New York. Ritholz also serves on Olin Business School’s Advisory Board as well as on the North Jersey Regional Council, of which he is co-chair. The Ritholz family also supports The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp and The Comfort 360 Project at New Jersey’s St. Barnabas Hospital, among other organizations. Ritholz is a board member on the finance committee at Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange, New Jersey.

Richard and Linda Ritholz reside in Short Hills, New Jersey, with their two children.

Register for the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner on April 12 to help us celebrate the achievements of our alumni.




This year’s Distinguished Alumni will be honored on April 21 at 6 p.m. Please join us at Celebration Weekend, April 20-23 to celebrate Olin’s Centennial and accomplished alumni.

The Distinguished Alumni Awards will be followed by a very special affair to commemorate our Centennial. Guests are invited inside Knight and Bauer Hall for a once-in-a-century Gala celebration. The Gala reception will include a band, food stations and cocktails, a photo booth, and a digital exhibit showcasing Olin’s rich history. The evening will conclude with a celebratory fireworks display as we embark on Olin’s second century of excellence.

Bill BroderickBill Broderick, MBA ’76

Partner (Retired) / Edward Jones / St. Louis

Chair, Board of Trustees / Bridge Builder Mutual Funds / St. Louis

In a 30-year career at Edward Jones, it is safe to say there is very little that Bill Broderick hasn’t participated in building for the firm. Even after his retirement in 2012, Broderick still has a hand in the business as founder and chairman of a subadvised family of Edward Jones sponsored mutual funds, with assets totaling $32 billion.

And that isn’t the only way in which Broderick has continued to participate. Since 2013, he has served as CEO for Victory Wireline, a Texas-based company offering specialized equipment services to the oil and gas industry. After earning his MBA from Washington University, Broderick launched his career at Centerre Bank, which at that time, was one of the two largest banks in the St. Louis area. He made a name for himself over six years, as a commercial banking officer and leader in the credit department, supervising 25 analysts.

By 1982, he had left Centerre to begin his distinguished career in investment banking at Edward Jones, and within four years, he was invited to be a partner in the firm. And that is where he started putting his fingerprints all over it—from product design to marketing to leadership development and beyond.

He took responsibility for the firm’s Equity Syndicate and OTC Trading operations in 1992, supervising 12 traders and syndicate professionals and overseeing the distribution of all new equity IPOs and secondary offerings. In that role, he initiated a college recruiting and rotational development program designed to attract and develop Edward Jones leaders, which remains the firm’s primary program for developing home office managers. The program has benefitted many Washington University graduates.

As the Internet Age took hold in the mid-1990s, Broderick served as Edward Jones’s online marketing leader, a capacity in which he built a team, developed the firm’s online strategy, and launched the first edwardjones.com website—all in just 10 months.

Broderick’s five years of leadership in the Edward Jones investment advisory programs increased the firm’s advisory assets under management from $4 billion to $90 billion. That assignment led to the launch of Edward Jones Advisory Solutions—a fee-based investment management program that today accounts for about 40 percent of the firm’s earnings.

Broderick’s links to the St. Louis community are not only tied to his business dealings, however. He has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Visitation Academy, the Missouri Friends of Injured Marines, and St. Andrew’s Resources for Seniors System.

Watch his presentation video.


Lee HeadshotLee Fixel, BSBA ’02

Partner / Tiger Global Management / New York City

At least one national magazine has credited Lee Fixel with having the Midas touch. As a partner in Tiger Global Management and head of its private equity business, Fixel’s hand in the high-tech startup world has yielded gold for his firm and companies around the world.

With billions in venture capital investments under his control, Fixel’s eye for hot startups has paid off handsomely. Many of the companies that have come under his gaze—and into his portfolio—are now so well known they scarcely require introduction, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Eventbrite, Spotify, and SurveyMonkey.

Others fit the category of hot startups that are edging their way into popular culture, such as online eyeglass retailer Warby Parker, online shaving retailer Harry’s, and Peloton, which uses technology to bring the experience of group exercise cycling into the home.

Forbes magazine has named Fixel four times to its annual “Midas List” as one of the best dealmakers in high tech and life sciences. In 2016, Fixel ranked No. 55 out of its 100 hot rainmakers. The magazine took special note of Fixel’s deep reach in India’s technology ecosystem, which included an investment in the country’s online e-commerce leader Flipkart, which at its high point was valued at a reported $15 billion.

Fixel’s foray into the Indian startup scene caused a stir as Tiger Global poured a reported $2 billion into companies involved in online classifieds, groceries, and the ride-hailing service Ola, according to a report in the Financial Times.

All that investment keeps Fixel busy on numerous corporate boards—including those of Flipkart, Ola, Eventbrite, and SurveyMonkey. But he has also remained an active member of the Washington University community. Fixel began a four-year term on the university’s board of trustees in mid-2015. He also serves as a member of Olin Business School’s National Council, charged with providing insights that will help the school achieve its vision to be recognized as one of the world’s best business schools.

Since 2009, Fixel has been active with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, first on the organization’s leadership council, then on its board of directors since 2013.

Before joining Tiger Global Management in 2006, Fixel worked at Alkeon Capital Management and completed the general course at the London School of Economics. He is a CFA charterholder, the highest distinction in the investment management profession.

Nina Leigh KruegerNina Leigh Krueger, MBA ’94

President / Nestlé Purina U.S. / St. Louis

Nina Leigh Krueger embodies the classic story of an executive who started at the bottom and rose through the ranks. In 1993, midway through her MBA studies at Washington University, Krueger joined the Ralston Purina Company as a brand management intern.

In 2016, 23 years and a variety of important steps later, Krueger assumed the role of president for Nestlé Purina U.S., after serving as the company’s chief marketing officer. While she retained responsibility for Purina’s marketing group—overseeing brand lines in dog food, cat food, pet treats, and cat litter—the new assignment gave her responsibility for Purina’s Market Development Organization as well.

Krueger recently made headlines by closing a 10-year agreement with the Westminster Kennel Club, making Purina Pro Plan® the exclusive pet food sponsor for the club’s famous annual dog show—extending an agreement that began in 2012.

She credits her MBA studies for showing her how to see the big picture throughout her career.

“Olin taught me how to ask smart questions,” Krueger said in a 2015 Olin blog post. “While my focus was marketing, the broad base of the program also gave me a grounding in areas like operations and accounting. I’ve discovered that leadership is not just knowing the answers. Often, it is about knowing the right questions to ask.”

After earning her MBA in 1994, Krueger joined Purina full time, establishing herself with increasing responsibilities, while working on key global brands in the cat food marketing division.

Just seven years later, Krueger took on another major challenge when Nestlé acquired the company in 2001 and executives tapped her to lead the integration of the two marketing departments. She has been instrumental in bringing innovation to market on several successful brands, including Beneful® brand dog food.

In 2010, Krueger was named vice president of Golden Products Marketing, makers of Tidy Cats® litter. Later that year, she led the successful integration of a newly acquired brand of dog treats, becoming the president of that division of the company. She became Nestlé Purina’s chief marketing officer in 2015.

Krueger is active in her community, having served on multiple boards and executive committees of various nonprofit organizations.

Watch her presentation video.

Dave MoellenhoffDave Moellenhoff, EN ’92, EN ’92, MBA ’94

Cofounder / Salesforce.com / San Juan Capistrano

Fresh out of business school with a newly minted MBA from Washington University, Dave Moellenhoff was planning to move to Seattle to work—as a bartender.

“I probably would have been the most overqualified bartender around,” Moellenhoff told his high school alma mater, St. Louis University High. The point of the story was simple: stick to your dreams. Don’t settle. Instead of taking a safe, salaried position, Moellenhoff resolved to create a company, and he moved to California.

His first foray into entrepreneurship was Left Coast Software, a computer consulting firm he founded with two others. Soon he got the itch to create a product, which led to $100,000 in seed money from Marc Benioff, who was Oracle’s vice president at the time.

The result was Salesforce.com, now the market-leading softwareas-a-service (SaaS) provider, which Moellenhoff cofounded in 1998.

It was named by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s most innovative companies for five years in a row, and by Fortune as one of the best companies to work for eight years in a row. Salesforce.com enables companies to develop and run any application without investing in hardware and network infrastructure. It now has more than 19,000 employees and generates more than $8 billion in annual revenue.

After the company’s founding, Benioff became Salesforce’s CEO, and Moellenhoff became its Chief Technology Officer, responsible for designing and implementing the infrastructure to power an enterprise application on a web-based scale. Today, that infrastructure serves more than 4 billion page views a day to users around the world.

Moellenhoff also serves on the board of directors of Salesforce.com, which pioneered the 1:1:1 model of corporate philanthropy. The idea: corporations should give back to their communities by donating one percent of their products, equities, and employees’ time.

The foundation has facilitated more than 1.6 million volunteer hours by Salesforce.com employees, given free or heavily discounted licenses to more than 22,000 nonprofit customers, and provided more than $125 million in grants. The foundation has partnered with the San Francisco Unified School District and Oakland Unified School District to steer more than $15 million toward integrated science, technology, engineering, and math programs for all city schools.

Moellenhoff also serves as the governing board member for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland Empire, which last year served 3,400 children.

Before founding Salesforce.com, Moellenhoff held positions at Metropolis Software, an early CRM innovator, and Clarify. He continues to operate Left Coast Software, advising and investing in early-stage technology startups. He serves on the boards of several technology companies, including Specright, Beautycounter, MileIQ, KaChing!, and Cloudwords.

Watch his presentation video.

Rick RyanRick L. Ryan, PhD, MBA ’94

Co-Founder and CEO / Apertus Pharmaceuticals / St. Louis

General Partner / Cultivation Capital Life Sciences / St. Louis

In the span of a few decades, Rick Ryan has moved from athlete to scientist to startup entrepreneur. Along the way, he has cultivated a focus on helping other entrepreneurs reach their dreams.

After a stellar pitching career in high school, college, and amateur baseball leagues, the Cincinnati Reds came knocking on his door with a draft offer. Instead, Ryan decided to become a free agent, taking part in initial discussions with the Chicago White Sox while completing his first year in graduate school—after which he had to fulfill an obligation to the Iowa National Guard.

At that point, Ryan never looked back, continuing his pursuit of a graduate degree. Today, he is cofounder and CEO of a St. Louis-based pharmaceutical company called Apertus. He is also a general partner in Cultivation Capital, a venture-funding firm that invests in early stage life sciences startups. Ryan has enjoyed the embrace of the life sciences community in St. Louis.

“There is a sharing of intellectual knowledge and networking of support in St. Louis that is extraordinary,” Ryan said in an interview with St. Louis’ EQ magazine. “It seems like there are only two degrees of separation from anyone in the St. Louis community.”

Ryan completed his PhD in biochemistry at the University of Illinois in 1976. From there, his career carried him to Armour Dial in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he focused his research on the biology of skin. Then an opportunity to join Monsanto brought him to St. Louis for the first time.

His 15-year career at Monsanto exposed him to a variety of management disciplines, including research, product development, commercial development, strategic planning, and international marketing. During that time, he attended Washington University, earning his MBA in 1994.

With his degree in hand, Ryan took on a new challenge, running the global commercial development unit for Embrex, a vaccine company based in North Carolina’s Research Triangle. St. Louis soon drew Ryan back with a position at Purina Mills in the late 1990s. His next move was to LINCO Research, a biomedical research firm, where he served as president. When Millipore acquired LINCO in 2006, Ryan stayed on, serving as vice president for the Drug Discovery and Development business unit.

After retiring from Millipore in 2011, Ryan didn’t stay out of the game for long. With a partner, he cofounded Apertus Pharmaceuticals in late 2011. The company manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) as well as tablets and capsules for oral dosage products. In 2013, he helped form the life sciences arm of Cultivation Capital. Currently, that team is raising its second fund to support entrepreneurs and local economic development.

Rick and his wife Sarah have lived in St. Louis for the past 35 years. They love to travel, and Sarah is a very active volunteer with the Assistants League of St. Louis. They have two children, Matt (wife Blithe and son Colum) and Amy (husband George). Their grandson Colum recently celebrated his first birthday.

Watch his presentation video.