Distinguished Speakers
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The K-State College of Business Administration boasts three outstanding speaker series with special emphasis on business ethics and diversity. These programs seek to enhance the educational experience of students in both the College of Business Administration and the K-State community, while showcasing programs, faculty, and students to the international business community.
Through these outstanding lecture series, students explore pertinent issues affecting business today as well as the opportunity to meet top business leaders. Please click on the names of our speakers to watch the videos of their speeches. (when available)
Distinguished Lecture Series
The Distinguished Lecture Series is sponsored by Commerce Bank and the William T. Kemper Foundation. Here is a list of all distinguished lecturers.
- Bill Zollars, Chairman, President and CEO, YRC Worldwide
- Robert Knight, Chief Financial Officer, Union Pacific
- Leanne Caret, Executive Vice President, President & CEO of Defense, Space & Security, The Boeing Company
- Zane Burke, President, Cerner
- Jeffrey Ettinger, Chairman of the Board & CEO, Hormel Foods
- Kathy Collins, Chief Marketing Officer, H&R Block
- Michael F. Goss, Managing Director and Head of Global Investor Relations (Retired), Bain Capital
- Larry Kendall, Founding Partner, The Group, Inc. | Author, Ninja Selling
- Steve Feilmeier, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Koch Industries
- Randy Sims , Chief Legal Officer, Senior Vice President, Cerner
- Greg Case , Aon plc., President and CEO
- Manu Chandaria, The Comcraft Group of Companies, Chairman and CEO
- Esther George, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, President and CEO
- J.P. Bilbrey , The Hershey Company, President and CEO
- Rand Berney , ConocoPhillips, Senior Vice President, Corporate Shared Services
- Jon Darbyshire, RSA Archer's eGRC Solutions, General Manager
- Wilbur R. (Wil) Davis, Ontario Systems, Chairman and Co-founder
- David W. Kemper, Commerce Bancshares, Inc., Chairman, President and CEO
- Lawrence Kendall, The Group, Inc.
- Randy Fletchall, Ernst & Young, Partner
- Earl McVicker, Central Financial Services and Central Bank & Trust Co., Chairman and CEO
- Jon Wefald, Kansas State University, President
- Neal L. Patterson, Cerner, President and CEO
- Stephen M. Lacy, Meredith Corporation, President and CEO
- Mark A. Ernst, H&R Block, Chair, President and CEO
- Irvine O. Hockaday, Jr., Hallmark Cards, Inc., President and CEO
- Barry Melancon, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, President and CEO
- Douglas Hill, Edward Jones, Managing Partner
- William L. Stowers, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, Vice President
- Tom Hoenig, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, MO, President
- Ivor J. (Ike) Evans, Union Pacific Railroad, COO
- William A. Porter, Emeritus of E*TRADE, Chairman
- David Oreck, Oreck Corporation, President
- Warren Staley, Cargill, Chairman and CEO
- Joseph Searles, Joseph L. Searles and Company, President and Chair
- Howard Fricke, The Security Benefit Group of Companies, Chairman and CEO
- John Allen, Cincinnati Reds, COO
- John (Jack) Barclay, Wire Rope Corp. of America, Inc., Chairman and CEO
- Jonathon Kemper, Commerce Bank, N.A., Chairman, President and CEO
- John Bachman, Edward Jones, Managing Partner
- John Hayes, Western Resources, Chairman and CEO
- Daniel Scroggin, Ground Room Restaurants, Inc., Chairman, CEO and President
- Charles Koch, Koch Industries, Inc., CEO
- Harvey Mackay, Mackay Envelope Company, CEO
- James Stowers, Twentieth Century Company, CEO
- Herman Cain, Godfather's Pizza, Chairman and President
- Barbara Grogan, Western Industrial Contractor, Inc., President
- William Esrey, Sprint and United Telecom, Chairman, President, and CEO
- Robert Glauber, Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury
Business Ethics Lecture Series
- Chuck Warta, Vice President, Cargill Animal Nutrition
- Ronald E. Berenbeim, Principal Researcher and Director, Conference Board's Working Group on Global Business Ethics Principles
- Andre Hughes, Senior Executive, Accenture
- Patrick Kuhse, Ethics Fellow-In-Residence, Eller College of Business, University of Arizona
- Steve Scheck, General Auditor and Chief Ethics Officer, ConocoPhillips
- Warren R. Staley, Chairman and CEO, Cargill
- James Haines Jr., Director and CEO, Westar Energy
Diversity & Inclusion Lecture Series
- Ray Dempsey, Chief Diversity Officer, BP America
- 2019 CBA Diversity & Inclusion Panel
- Derrick Nelson, Commerce Bank, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Inclusion & Diversity
- Natacha Buchanan , Phillips 66, Senior Advisor, Diversity & Inclusion
- Manny Fernandez, KPMG Dallas, Managing Partner
- Michael Gonzales , Hallmark, Leader of Corporate Diversity & Inclusion
- Eric Butler, Union Pacific, Executive Vice President - Marketing & Sales
- Raymond Hall, Cargill, Global Director, Inclusion and Diversity
- Bernie Milano, KPMG, President, The PhD Project
- Tunde Odunayo, Honeywell Flour Mills of Nigeria, CEO
- Jill Kickul, Stewart Satter Program in Social Entrepreneurship, NYU, Director
- Joseph L. Searles, Joseph Searles & Company, Inc., President
- Kevin Burnett, Wireless Sales, Alcatel-Lucent, Vice President
- Scott J. Eilert, Cargill, Vice President of Meat Technology Development
- Maryam Quadrat
- Vallerie Parrish-Porter, Sprint Nextel, CEO
- Suzanne de Passe
- Brig. Gen. (Dr.) M.B. Marwa
- Myra Gordon
- Hilton O. Smith
- Barbara Akins
Guest Lecturers
- Rob Knight, CFO, Union Pacific (Part of Corporate Days in the College of Business Administration)
- Barry Robinson, Ernst & Young, Tax Markets Leader for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. CBA Alumni Fellow 2013
- Christopher Peterson, University of Michigan, Professor
- Julie L. Davis, Davis & Hosfield Consulting LLC, Principal
Entrepreneurship Lectures
The Center for the Advancement of Entrepreneurship hosts lectures throughout the year to bring noted entrepreneurs to campus. View the full list and watch past entrepreneurship lectures.
Distinguished Research Lectures
- Jeffrey Coles , Francis J. and Mary B. Labriola Chair in Competitive Business
National Strategic Selling Institute Lectures
- Larry Kendall - Author, Ninja Selling | Founding Partner, The Group, Inc.
- Tom Short - Chief Growth Officer, Lappin 180
Gates Capital Management Speaker Series
- Katrina Scott, Chief Investment Officer, Mariner Wealth Advisors
- Alison Felix, Economist and Branch Executive, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City -Denver Branch
- Michael Upchurch, Chief Financial Officer, Kansas City Southern
Sponsors
The loyal support of our educational partners enable the college to provide a top notch business education to K-State students, including bringing these remarkable speakers to campus.
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The William T. Kemper Foundation
Commerce Bank
Cargill