MN CUP - Key Persons


Akinyi Williams - CEO, Founder

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • Founder
  • Co - Founder, President & Chief Operating Officer, Western Capital
Akinyi Williams is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Cheyenne Mortgage Capital.

Aleah Van Horne

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director, Annual Giving

Alex Hamel

Job Titles:
  • Program Manager, Education Abroad
Alex Hamel is the main contact for outgoing Carlson students studying on exchange. Alex earned her bachelor's degree in International Business and her master's degree in International Leadership, both from the University of St. Thomas. During her undergraduate career, she did a semester abroad in London and participated in a short-term study abroad course in Tanzania for her Master's capstone. Most recently, Alex lived in Seoul, South Korea for the last 6 years preparing students to study at U.S. partner institutions. One of Alex's most memorable international experiences was getting lost on a mountain outside of Seoul, having to forge a trail down the mountain at sundown, and being rescued by a group of campers who were kind enough to feed her and her friends and drive them to the nearest bus stop!

Alfred Marcus

Job Titles:
  • Professor, Edson Spencer Endowed Chair in Strategy and Technological Leadership
Alfred Marcus in 2022 won the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Academy of Management Organizations and Natural Environment Division.

Allison Henning Duffy

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director, Alumni Relations

Alok Gupta

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean of Faculty and Research Curtis L. Carlson School - Wide Chair in Information Management, Information and Decision Sciences
  • Curtis L. Carlson School - Wide Chair
Alok Gupta is the Curtis L. Carlson School-wide Chair in Information Management, and the former chair of the Information and Decision Sciences Department at the Carlson School. His research has appeared in several information systems, economics, and computer science journals. Gupta was awarded the prestigious NSF CAREER Award for his research on dynamic pricing mechanisms on the internet in 2001, and named an INFORMS Information Systems Society (ISS) Distinguished Fellow in 2014. From 1999-2001, he served as co-director of Treibick Electronic Commerce Initiative (TECI), an endowed research initiative in the Operations and Information Management Department at the University of Connecticut. Currently, Gupta is an affiliate of the Center for Research in Electronic Commerce (CREC) at the University of Texas at Austin, editor in chief of Information Systems Research and associate editor of Management Science. He has served as publisher of MIS Quarterly since 2005.

Alyssa Nordaune

Job Titles:
  • Senior Director of Advancement, Major Gifts

Amy Dostal Dauer

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director of Advancement Events

Ana Carolina Queiroz

Job Titles:
  • Vice President of Finance, Cargill

Andrew Cecere - CEO, Chairman, President

Job Titles:
  • Chairman
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • President

Angela Busch

Job Titles:
  • Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Business Development

Angela Spranger

Job Titles:
  • Senior Diversity Officer

Anne D'Angelo

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean, Carlson Global Institute
  • Assistant Dean, Global Initiatives
Anne is the Assistant Dean of Global Initiatives. Her professional background includes work in international education, development and training in Washington, D.C., Central and Eastern Europe, and Northern Africa. She also lived and worked abroad in Tokyo, Japan, and Tbilisi, Georgia. Anne has a B.A. in English from St. Michael's College in Vermont and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development with a specialization in Comparative and International Development Education from College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota. In 2016, Anne received the University of Minnesota's Distinguished Award for Global Engagement. Anne's favorite international experience was her work at the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia (1997-2000) after the collapse of the Soviet Union, especially covering momentous events such as the distribution of titles of landownership for the first time to rural farmers.

Anne Marie Frohnmayer

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director of Advancement

Annie Montemayor

Job Titles:
  • Career Coach / She / Her

Art Hill

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Leadership Team
  • Academic Founder & Professor Emeritus
Professor Hill founded the Carlson Consulting Enterprise in 2002 with help from several collaborators both inside and outside the Carlson School. He was the associate dean for MBA programs and John and Nancy Lindahl Professor in the Supply Chain and Operations Department. Hill has extensive international experience at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences, State University of Management (Moscow), University of Witwatersrand (South Africa), IMD International (Lausanne, Switzerland), the National University of Singapore, and Renmin University (Beijing). He has consulted more than 100 organizations including 3M, Best Buy, Cargill, Carlson, Ceridian, CH Robinson, Cummins, Dow, General Mills, Goodrich, Home Depot, Honeywell, Land O'Lakes, Medtronic, Nestlé, Target, Thomson Reuters, Toro, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. He was the editor of the Journal of Operations Management, the premier academic journal in operations management. His current research is focused on supply chain management and process improvement. Hill holds a BA in mathematics from Indiana University, an MS in industrial administration and a PhD from Purdue's Krannert School. He has been recognized as an outstanding instructor in the Carlson School of Management in several national publications including BusinessWeek.

Ben Irby

Job Titles:
  • President, Snack Operating Unit, General Mills

Beth Kieffer Leonard

Job Titles:
  • Partner in Charge - Minnesota / EisnerAmper Advisory Group LLC

Bryan Messerly

Job Titles:
  • Director, Strategic Initiatives and Engagement / Global Business Practicum
Bryan holds a bachelor's degree in English and Italian from the University of Kansas, an MA in English from Boston College, and an MA in Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs from American University in Washington, DC. Before joining the Carlson Global Institute, he served as the director of international and cultural education at Gustavus Adolphus College and worked in the Office of Academic Exchange Programs at the U.S. Department of State. Bryan also taught Italian for several years at the University of Kansas, including leading students on summer programs to Florence twice. As an undergraduate student, he spent a semester abroad at a language institute in Florence. Bryan's favorite international experiences include participating in a fell run in the English Lake District, getting lost in Normandy with his brother, helping deliver a weeklong Fulbright enrichment seminar in Amman for U.S. student grantees throughout the Middle East and North Africa, and meeting his wife's family in Italy for the first time.

C.H. Robinson - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Financial Officer

Candice Bonrud

Job Titles:
  • Program Manager, Education Abroad
Candice earned her bachelor's degree in Global Studies from South Dakota State University and her master's degree in Liberal Studies from the University of Minnesota focusing on the local Russian population and their access to healthcare. Candice has over 10 years of service at the University of Minnesota having previously worked in facility operations and events. She spent the summer abroad in Russia in 2008 and attended short-term programs in Turkey in 2009 and again in Russia in 2015 and 2016. One of Candice's most memorable experiences abroad was waking up at dawn to watch a hot air balloon festival in Cappadocia, Turkey.

Carlson Analytics

Job Titles:
  • Academic Director

Catherine Mathis - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Board

Charles (Charlie) Montreuil

Job Titles:
  • SVP, Human Resources - Rewards / Best Buy Company, Inc.

Chris Koch

Job Titles:
  • Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer / Carlisle Companies Inc.

Christy Sovereign - CEO

Job Titles:
  • Senior Managing Director

Connie Buechele

Job Titles:
  • Director, Information Technology

Craig Schmidt

Job Titles:
  • Ex - Officio Member Alumni Board President, Head of Global Regulatory Reporting

Curtis L. Carlson

Job Titles:
  • Chairman Professor in Business Analytics and Information Systems

Dean Prenkert

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean of Global Initiatives

Deb Cross

Job Titles:
  • Department Staff Member
  • Executive Administrative Specialist

Deborah Brashear

Job Titles:
  • Administrator
  • Department Staff Member

Deirdre Opp

Job Titles:
  • Program Director, Education Abroad
Deirdre has a bachelor's degree from the University of Saint Thomas, and her Master's degree from the University of Minnesota in Comparative & International Development Education (CIDE). She has been at the Carlson School since 2006 and has extensive experience working in higher education, faculty-led short-term programming, program management, and student advising. As an undergraduate, she studied abroad for a semester in Vienna, Austria, and on faculty-led short-term programs in England, Tanzania, and Egypt. She has a passion for intercultural education and student development. One of Deirdre's most memorable international experiences was hiking in the little slice of the Mata Atlantica (Atlantic rainforest) that remains along the coast of Brazil and ending that hike with a swim at a secluded beach.

Ed Walczak

Job Titles:
  • Member of the BACH Team
  • Program Manager ( Interim )

Ellen Trader

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean, Executive Education

Emma Somers

Job Titles:
  • Development Associate

Eric Jing - CEO, Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman
  • Chief Executive Officer

Evan Witt

Job Titles:
  • Director of Global Executive Programs
Evan's professional background focuses on international higher education with a focus on leadership development. He has lived and worked abroad in Doha, Qatar, Auckland, New Zealand, and has sailed with Semester at Sea. Evan has a bachelor's degree in Psychology from James Madison University and a master's degree in Higher Education from the University of Maryland-College Park. He recently completed his Ph.D. in the Higher Education track of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD) at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. His dissertation research explored undergraduate students' understanding of global leadership through short-term study abroad leadership courses. Evan's favorite international experience was leading a group of students representing six countries on a seven-day summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania as part of a leadership development program while working in Qatar.

Frederick H. Grose

Job Titles:
  • Chairman in Accounting

Gabrielle Gerbaud

Job Titles:
  • Executive Director, Minnesota Trade Office & Chief Protocol Officer, State of Minnesota

Gail Gibbs

Job Titles:
  • SVP of Global Sourcing, Lakeshore Learning

Gautam Ray

Job Titles:
  • Professor at the Carlson School of Management
Gautam Ray is a Professor at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. His research interests are in the area of impact of IT on firm scope and structure, and how does IT create value.

Heather Anfang

Job Titles:
  • Senior Vice President - U.S. Dairy Foods

Heidi Capozzi

Job Titles:
  • Executive Vice President and Global Chief People Officer / McDonalds

Helen Moser

Job Titles:
  • Senior Lecturer
Helen found a passion for finance during her 5-year stint with the U.S. Army. Post-Army, she earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Finance. She spent several years in the banking industry, working her way up from credit analyst to CFO.

James Plesser

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean, Marketing and Communications

Jamie Prenkert

Job Titles:
  • Dean
Jamie Darin Prenkert is the 13th dean of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. He began his tenure on July 3, 2023, leading a school of 5,000 current students and 400+ faculty and staff, with 60,000 alumni in more than 100 countries. In addition, Professor Prenkert is the Investors in Leadership Distinguished Chair. Prior to joining the Carlson School, Prenkert served as Executive Associate Dean for Faculty and Research and Charles M. Hewitt Professor at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University-Bloomington. During his 20 years at Indiana, he served in several administrative leadership roles and taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses. His research focuses on issues of employment discrimination and the human rights obligations of transnational corporations. He is the lead coauthor of a leading business law/legal environment of business textbook, Business Law: The Global, Ethical, and Digital Environment, currently in its 18th Edition. Prior to joining the Kelley School faculty, Dean Prenkert was a senior trial attorney for the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He also practiced with the law firm of Baker & Daniels (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP).

Jennifer Ninneman

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean, Faculty Affairs and Administrative Services

Jessica Haupt - Managing Director

Job Titles:
  • Managing Director

Jessica Kowal

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean
  • Assistant Dean, Institutional Advancement

John Stavig

Job Titles:
  • Director of the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship
John Stavig, director of the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship at the Carlson School of Management, talks about the center and its initiatives.

Johnson Brothers - CEO

Job Titles:
  • CEO
  • Co - Owner

Jon Ruppel

Job Titles:
  • Senior Vice President, Total Rewards & Services, 3M

Joseph M. Juran

Job Titles:
  • History
During the past century, Joseph M. Juran put forth a vision for a world made better through a commitment to quality. His message urged leaders to improve quality by learning from both our achievements and shortcomings, and by expanding the field through our curiosity. From Dr. Juran's vision for a Century of Quality emerged the Joseph M. Juran Center for Research in Supply Chain, Operations, and Quality at the University of Minnesota. The Juran Research Center is a repository for past developments in the field of leadership in quality, as well as a generator of new research, new ideas, and new scholars. The Carlson School of Management, where the Joseph Research Center is housed, understands the importance of research and teaching in quality, and is committed to being a place where world leaders in quality come to think and contribute. The Center's unique position in an academic setting has helped develop its reputation as a disciplined, rigorous champion of development in the quality field. The Center serves as a resource to leaders, scholars, and students of quality.

Judd Nystrom - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Financial Officer

Julie Drysdale

Job Titles:
  • Tax Principal, Transfer Pricing, PwC

Kate Johnson

Job Titles:
  • Program Manager, Education Abroad
Kate participated in a gap year program between high school and college, living in Germany as an exchange student. This inspired her to pursue a bachelor's degree in German and Global Studies from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. During her time at Concordia, Kate participated in a semester exchange program in Zhuhai, China. Preceding her time at the Carlson Global Institute, Kate worked in the Learning Abroad Center at the University of Minnesota. She also has experience working in local non-profits and smaller study abroad program providers. Kate's most memorable experience abroad is being a bridesmaid in her friend's traditional Chinese wedding, a three-day event with over 1500 guests!

Kate Ostrem

Job Titles:
  • Director of Benefactor Relations

Kate Terry

Job Titles:
  • Program Director, Education Abroad
Kate Terry is the main contact for all balance negotiations, contract questions, partner relationships, site visit requests, and high-level student concerns. Kate graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities with an individualized degree in Spanish, Psychology and Teaching English as a Second Language. Her first international experience was a semester spent studying in Toledo, Spain. She formed close relationships with each family member, especially a host sister and brother, and continues to keep in touch with them years later. After her semester abroad, Kate decided to pursue a career in international education. She completed the Comparative and International Development Education M.A. program through the College of Education and Human Development. Kate's favorite international experience was living with a Spanish host family.

Kathryn Marinello - CEO, President

Job Titles:
  • CEO
  • President

Katie Gates

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director, Global Executive Programs
Katie earned a master's degree in law and diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University and a bachelor's degree in political science from Macalester College. Most recently, she was an English as an additional language teacher in Australia and China. Prior to her teaching roles, Katie worked as a Communications Officer at the World Health Organization in Geneva, where she supported endemic countries in their fight against malaria. She has also worked at Global Minnesota, Harvard University, and for the office of Senator Paul Wellstone. Her international experience is extensive, having lived in seven countries across five continents.

Kimberlee Sinclair

Job Titles:
  • Vice President, Digital Customer Experience, H.B. Fuller

Kirsten Canterbury

Job Titles:
  • Director, Education Abroad
Kirsten earned her bachelor's degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her master's degree in Comparative and International Development Education (CIDE) at the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining the Carlson Global Institute in 2008, she spent six years working in corporate training and development with domestic and overseas teams. Kirsten spent a semester abroad in Spain as an undergraduate, and currently oversees the education abroad programs for Carlson students. Kirsten's favorite international experience to date was her time living in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala leading a rural health initiative.

Laura M. Newinski - COO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Operating Officer
  • Deputy Chair

Lauren Dickinson

Job Titles:
  • Associate Program Director, Education Abroad
After completing her undergraduate degree at Grinnell College in French, Lauren spent two years teaching English in France and traveling extensively around Western Europe. She returned to the U.S. to attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota where she completed a M.A. degree in Educational Policy and Administration with a focus on International and Intercultural Education in May of 2011. During graduate school, Lauren interned with Operation Crossroads Africa and spent seven weeks in Togo and Ghana. Following her degree, she was a fellow at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication. Picking just one favorite international experience is extremely difficult for Lauren, so here are a few highlights: riding on the back of a motorcycle all over Togo with her Togolese brother; exploring Ancient Roman ruins in Greece; living in a small town in Northern France and losing horribly at Monopoly to her host brother; and being the only non-French person in a group hiking the hills of Provence in Southern France during her college study abroad semester.

Leah Larson

Job Titles:
  • Chief Marketing Officer, Madison Industries

LeAnne Mfalingundi

Job Titles:
  • Administrator
  • Associate

Libby Baur

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director of Benefactor Relations

Linh Peters - CMO, SVP

Job Titles:
  • Chief Marketing Officer
  • Senior Vice President

Lisa Novack

Job Titles:
  • Director of Student Engagement & Career Development

Liz Grosjean

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director of Events

Mandy Xue Bai

Job Titles:
  • Program Director, Global DBA
  • Program Director, Global Doctorate of Business Administration ( DBA )
Mandy leads the Global DBA program in partnership with Tsinghua University in China. She has a B.A. in English and International Studies from China Foreign Affairs University, an M.A. in Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and an M.B.A. from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. Before joining the Carlson Global Institute, she worked as the Associate Director at the University of Minnesota's China Center. Her favorite international experience was kayaking and hiking at the Simatai Great Wall in Beijing.

Marja Fox

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director
  • Member of the Leadership Team
  • Senior Executive
Marja Fox is a senior executive with expertise in strategy, business development, marketing and commercial operations. Her prior experience includes 10 years with management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, where she served clients across many industries, including food & agriculture, consumer packaged goods and financial services. She was also a Vice President of both Strategy & Business Development and Marketing with Ecolab and is currently CEO of SuraMedical, a startup medical device manufacturer. Marja has a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a BS in Chemistry from Harvey Mudd College and is an alum of the University of Minnesota's own UMTYMP program.

Mark Schindele

Job Titles:
  • Executive Vice President & Chief Stores Officer

Mary Krebs

Job Titles:
  • Program Manager, Education Abroad
Mary earned her BBA in International Business from Northwood University and an MA in International Relations from London Metropolitan University. From marketing and organizing international soccer camps for the Walt Disney Corporation to teaching International Relations and American Business Studies around the world, her professional and personal travels have taken Mary throughout Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa, totaling 42 countries (living in 3). Mary is excited to combine her international business, relations, and education backgrounds to help facilitate short-term, faculty-led programs for CGI. One of Mary's most memorable international experiences was camping through Africa on a 3-month overland tour.

Mary Pat Blake - Founder, President

Job Titles:
  • Founder
  • President

Mary Zellmer-Bruhn

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean of MBA and MS Programs / BBA, Marketing, University of Wisconsin
  • Professor
Mary Zellmer-Bruhn is a Professor in the Work and Organizations Department. From 2019-2023 she served as Department Chair. Her research focuses on teamwork, including the formation and design of teams, entrepreneurial teams, and cross-cultural teamwork. Recent work adds a focus on language diversity and the experiences of migrants at work. Her research is published in numerous premiere journals including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Management Science, Organization Science, and the Strategic Management Journal. Professor Zellmer-Bruhn currently serves as Senior Editor for Organization Science and has previously served as Area Editor for the Journal of International Business Studies. Professor Zellmer-Bruhn teaches courses on the management of teams, organizational behavior, and cross-cultural management along with numerous executive education offerings. She has received the Carlson School's Excellence in Teaching, Outstanding Honor's Faculty and the Carlson Executive MBA Curtis Cup Award for Excellence teaching awards. Professor Zellmer-Bruhn has a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Matthew Woebke

Job Titles:
  • Senior Director of Advancement Services

Megan Tenenbaum

Job Titles:
  • Director, Annual Giving

Melissa DuBois

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director of Advancement Communications

Michael Ramlet - CEO, Founder

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • Co - Founder

Michelle K. Duffy

Job Titles:
  • Director of Graduate Studies and PhD Program at the Carlson School of Management
  • Professor, Vernon Heath Chair
Michelle K. Duffy serves as the Director of Graduate Studies and PhD program at the Carlson School of Management. She holds the Vernon Heath Chair. She received her PhD in Organizational Behavior from the University of Arkansas in 1998, an M.A. in psychology from Xavier University in 1993, and her B.A. in psychology in 1990 from Miami University (Ohio).

Michelle Wills - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Director, Finance

Mike Happe - CEO, President

Job Titles:
  • CEO
  • President

Newton Guillen

Job Titles:
  • Vice President and General Manager of Exclusive Brands, Best Buy / Vice President and General Manager of Exclusive Brands, Best Buy.

Nick Wallace

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Program

Nicole Graves

Job Titles:
  • Global People Leader, Office of the CFO

Nida Yamin

Job Titles:
  • Member of the BACH Team
  • Graduate Assistant

Nii Quaye

Job Titles:
  • Principal / Vermilion Group

Nina Salah

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director, Alumni Relations

Noriko Gamblin

Job Titles:
  • Director of Advancement

Patrick Smith

Job Titles:
  • Director of Business Development / Analytics for Good Institute & Carlson Analytics Lab

Pervin Shroff

Job Titles:
  • Accounting Dept. Chair

Peter Rainey

Job Titles:
  • Senior Vice President and Controller / UnitedHealth Group

Peter Rottier

Job Titles:
  • Managing Director / Summit Partners

Phil Miller

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean, MBA and MS Programs

Pinar Karaca-Mandic

Job Titles:
  • Member of the BACH Team
  • Founding Director & Professor / Department of Finance
  • Professor

Qian (Leah) Zhang

Job Titles:
  • Program Manager, Global DBA
  • Program Manager, Global Doctor of Business Administration ( DBA )
Qian brings a wealth of experience in international business, financial analysis, and project management as well as her cross-cultural perspectives in human development. She has a master's degree in Accounting, Organizations, and Institutions from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences in the U.K., a master's degree in Social Anthropology from Sun Yat-Sen University in China, and a bachelor's degree in Food Science and Engineering from Jinan University in China. Her most memorable experience was one year of field research on a remote island in southern China where she lived with the locals to conduct research for her master's thesis in social anthropology. Her favorite international experience was the three years in London when she had the opportunity to explore Great Britain's rich culture and history.

Rachna Shah

Job Titles:
  • Professor, Operations and Management Science at the Carlson School of Management
Rachna Shah is a Professor, Operations and Management Science at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota.

Rebecca Dordel

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director of Career Development

Rick Olson

Job Titles:
  • Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer / the Toro Company

Rick Trembley

Job Titles:
  • Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Banking, Bank of America

Robert Goodall

Job Titles:
  • Vice President, Thomson Reuters

Robert L. Duffy

Job Titles:
  • Partner Emeritus / a. T. Kearney, Inc

Sarah Oehler

Job Titles:
  • Senior Director, Alumni Relations & Annual Giving

Scott Persons

Job Titles:
  • Senior Director of Advancement

Siddharth "Sid" Gandhi

Job Titles:
  • Senior Vice President, Employee Benefits Solutions / Securian Financial Group

Siddharth Chandramouli - Managing Director

Job Titles:
  • Managing Director
  • Member of the Leadership Team
  • Carlson Consulting Enterprise
Siddharth Chandramouli has worked extensively on strategy and operations initiatives across a wide range of industries, including financial services, healthcare, logistics, and travel. His previous experience includes working as a management consultant with IBM and McKinsey, where he led business development activities and project teams. In these roles, he worked closely with clients by bringing a structured, collaborative, and actionable approach to solving critical business problems. He has also served in leadership positions with Zurich Insurance Group, UnitedHealth Group, and Carlson Wagonlit Travel in various roles, including corporate strategy, sales and distribution, and operations. He received his PhD in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has a passion for coaching and mentoring and building strong trust-based relationships.

Smriti Canakapalli

Job Titles:
  • Head of Strategy and Transformation

Stephen T. Parente

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean of Carlson Global Institute / Professor, Minnesota Insurance Industry Chair of Health Finance
  • Associate Dean, Global Initiatives
Stephen T. Parente, Ph.D., MPH, MS is a Professor in the Department of Finance and the Minnesota Insurance Industry Chair of Health Finance in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and Associate Dean of the Carlson Global Institute. From 2014-2017, he served as Associate Dean of MBA and MS programs. Dr. Parente is the longest-serving Director of the Medical Industry Leadership Institute (2006-2017). As a Professor in the Finance Department, he specializes in health economics, information technology, and health insurance. Dr. Parente has been the principal investigator on large funded studies regarding consumer-directed health plans, health information technology, and health policy micro-simulation. In Washington DC, he serves as Senior Economist on the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President at the White House. Previously, he was Senior Adviser to the Secretary for Health Economics in the Department of Health and Human Services and the Governing Chair of the Health Care Cost Institute from 2013 to 2017. He is the Founding Director of the Medical Valuation Laboratory, a nine-college interdisciplinary effort to accelerate medical innovation from scientists, clinicians, and entrepreneurs. Dr. Parente was a health policy advisor for the McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign and served as a Legislative Fellow in the office of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D‑WV) in 1992/93. He has a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.

Stephen Xiang Li

Job Titles:
  • Program Manager, Global DBA
  • Program Manager, Global Doctor of Business Administration ( DBA )
Stephen earned his B.S degree in Computer Science from Shandong University and his M.S degree in Computer Engineering from China Agricultural University. He worked in Synnex Corporation for 7 years as a software engineer and led a team of 10 before his departure, after which he completed his MBA degree at the Carlson School of Management in 2017. Afterward, he worked in a few start-ups as founders and co-founders, all with the purpose of bridging the gaps between the US and China. Stephen's favorite international experience was relaxing on the beaches of Maldives in the Indian Ocean; he is planning to do the same thing in Hawaii and the Caribbean.

Steve Bessert

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director of Advancement

Steve Henneberry


Suresh Krishna - CEO, President

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • President

Susan Meyer Goldstein

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Leadership Team
  • Academic Director
  • Professor
Professor Meyer-Goldstein joined the Carlson School faculty in 1998. She has also taught at Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, and Olin School of Business, Washington University in St. Louis (MO). She previously worked in clinical research administration in the healthcare industry. Susan is globally recognized as an expert in service operations. Her research investigates the design and management of service processes and service supply chains. Her research extends to studying responsible operations practices, such as working conditions in supplier factories in developing economies. Susan teaches courses in supply chain and operations and service management. She teaches in executive, M.B.A. and undergraduate programs, and advises undergraduate and executive students on their research. She is the recipient of the Carlson School of Management Outstanding Teaching Award (twice) and the Carlson School of Management Outstanding Service Award. Susan has her Ph.D. in Operations Management from Ohio State University, M.B.A. from the Carlson School of Management, and B.S. in Genetics and Cell Biology from the College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota.

Tim LaLonde

Job Titles:
  • CFO and Senior Managing Director / Evercore

Tina Starnes

Job Titles:
  • Administrator
  • Associate
  • Department Staff Member

Tod E. Carpenter

Job Titles:
  • Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer / Donaldson Company, Inc

Tonia Weber

Job Titles:
  • Executive Director for Corporate & Foundation Relations

Tony Haitao

Job Titles:
  • Deputy Associate Dean for Global DBA, Professor of Marketing

Trevor Gunn

Job Titles:
  • Vice President, International Relations, Medtronic

Trevor Putrah - President

Job Titles:
  • President

Tyler Hall

Job Titles:
  • Administrative Services Manager
Tyler earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communications Studies from the University of Minnesota. Before joining the Carlson Global Institute, he worked in nonprofit operations and finance at the Center for American Progress in Washington D.C., and at TakeAction Minnesota in Saint Paul, MN. Tyler's favorite international experience was in 2004 when he was selected as one of six international students to join the 46th global voyage of the Peace Boat, a Japanese non-governmental organization. Tyler traveled West from Tokyo to New York City stopping at 12 ports in between.

Vicki Lund

Job Titles:
  • Department Staff Member
  • Executive Administrative Specialist

Vlad Griskevicius

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean of the Undergraduate Program / Carlson Family Foundation Chair in Marketing
Vlad Griskevicius has an extensive background in psychology, communication and motivation. He believes that education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. As Associate Dean, he aspires to light the fires of 3000 students through a truly transformative educational experience that enables every student to become their best self. In addition to teaching courses on the Power of Story, Persuasion & Influence, and Designing Your Life, Vlad has published over 100 scholarly works and is co-author of The Rational Animal - a book about how our deep-seated ancestral motivations shape modern behavior. He previously served as Chair of the Marketing Department and as Associate Editor of the Journal of Marketing Research. His life goal is to raise his four kids - and all the students he encounters - to be good human beings and to never stop learning because life never stops teaching.

Wendy Nelson

Job Titles:
  • Chairman / Carlson Family Foundation

Whit Alexander

Job Titles:
  • Consultant / McKinsey & Company

Yvonne Moore

Job Titles:
  • Senior Vice President Human Resources Global Markets, Ecolab
  • Yvonne Moore. Senior Vice President Human Resources Global Markets, Ecolab
Yvonne Moore. Yvonne Moore. Senior Vice President Human Resources Global Markets, Ecolab.

Zac Quammen

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations

Zoé Garman

Job Titles:
  • Operations Coordinator, Information Management Lead
Zoé earned a Bachelor of Science degree in International and Global Studies from Rochester Institute of Technology. Her first study abroad experience was in Afyonkarahisar, Turkey. She has also studied abroad in Beijing, China, and has lived in Vancouver, Canada. Prior to joining Carlson Global Institute, she worked as an independent contractor. Zoé is fascinated by how tea can connect people around the world and holds a deep appreciation for the tea culture she was exposed to in China and Turkey. Some of Zoé's most memorable international experiences include trying different types of tea during her travels.