Gina Drosos: Curtain Up, Act II the Former Global Business Guru for Procter & Gamble Is Now CEO of Assurex Health
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Fall 2014 Magazine for alumni and friends of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia Gina Drosos: Curtain Up, Act II The former global business guru for Procter & Gamble is now CEO of Assurex Health Editor’s Note The Women’s Issue As I re-read the stories of the 57 remarkable women profiled in this issue, I was struck by a number of commonalities, including how many of these Terry alums — a vast majority, I would say — have spent most of their careers in the same general sector of the business world, finding their passion or their niche . and then running with it. There are a few exceptions: Gina Drosos (Procter & Gamble, Assurex Health), Diane Bloodworth (air traffic control, fantasy sports), Laura Brightwell (Capitol Hill staffer, Coca- Cola Enterprises). With 31 years at AT&T, Debbie Storey may not seem like she belongs on that short list. But over the course of those three decades Debbie has lent her leadership skills to a wide range of AT&T departments, including manufacturing, engineering, sales and sales support, distribu- tion, real estate, and supply chain. I was also struck by the number of times that Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s bestseller Lean In came up. Kelly Frailey read Lean In on the flight back from her job interview at Facebook. (She got the job.) Legal studies professor Marisa Pagnattaro brought it up in the faculty roundtable story that begins on p. 30, saying that Sandberg’s book notes that men are totally comfortable with the concept of one more question; they will keep their hand in the air to ask a final question because of cues that give men greater permission to speak freely in the business world. Another person we profiled said, “‘Leaning in’ is not something unique to women. Men should do it, too.” As I typed the headline for this column, I wondered how many women would be comfort- able being singled out in such a manner. On p. 82, near the end of our cover story, Gina Dro- sos says: “I don’t want this to come out the wrong way, but . I sort of wish I wouldn’t be on the cover of the Terry Magazine issue about women.” She’d felt the same way about being one of the Fortune Top 50 Women. “Would I make it into the Fortune Top 50, period?” she wonders. Well, first of all, Gina, I have to say that you would belong on the cover of this magazine even if every other person profiled in this issue were male. No one makes our cover unless they’re a newsmaker, and your career accomplishments are important, intriguing, and inspir- ing to our readers. Whether being singled out is a good thing or not is one of the dilemmas women face as they populate college graduating classes at rates equal to or higher than their male coun- terparts — but without a 50 percent share of leadership roles in industry and government. Going forward, women clearly deserve to be seen as individuals — not as part of a collective group based on gender. The achievements of the 57 women profiled in this issue — and those of dozens more in our Class Notes section — are a testament to the contributions that women make to our society at all levels. Having just watched PBS’s seven-part documentary series on the Roosevelts — which makes clear how vitally important Eleanor Roosevelt (FDR’s wife/ partner and Teddy Roosevelt’s favorite niece) was to the welfare of this country — I am moved to say: “Bully for Terry women!” [email protected] terry.uga.edu 3 Terry Advisory Groups TERRY DEAN’S William H. Linginfelter Lisa Read Blanco Travis Hannon (BBA ’00) John K. Sheppard ADVISORY COUNCIL Area President, (BBA ’95, JD ’98), Founder Director, Accounting (BBA ’79, MBA ’81) Georgia/South Carolina and Chief Executive Officer, Advisor, Warbird Consulting Chief Executive Officer & Chair Regions Financial Corporation General Counsel, Energy Partners President, EveryWare Kessel D. Stelling, Jr. Technology Ventures, LLC Global, Inc. Chairman and CEO Michael K. Ostergard William A. Herman, IV Synovus Financial Corporation North American Managing Jason Marchman Brady (BBA ’92), Audit Partner, George A. Steadman Partner, Corporate Strategy (BBA ’93), Partner Deloitte & Touche, LLP (BBA ’75), Vice Chairman, Vice Chair Accenture Northwestern Benefit Rutherfoord/MMA Scott L. Hobby Barry L. Storey Corporation of Georgia Partner, Hull Storey Gibson Patrick S. Pittard (BBA ’94, MBA ’00) R. Travis Storey Companies, LLC Executive-in-Residence Lauren Hammann Bridwell Vice President (BBA ’75, MAcc ’77) Terry College of Business (MBA ’09), Director, Client Case Pomeroy Properties Office Managing Partner George M. Boltwood Success, ACT Bridge, Inc. KPMG Vice Chairman and Head Julio A. Ramirez Ryan D. Katz (BBA ’96) of Corporate & Commercial Founder, JEM Global Laura Evelyn Brightwell Founding Partner, Route 66 S. Andrew Sullivan Banking (Retired) Consulting, Former EVP (BBA ’89), Senior Vice Ventures (BBA ’89), Managing Partner BBVA Compass Global Operations, Burger President, Public Affairs and Senior Wealth Advisor, Catherine Davis Knox King Corp. and Communications Sullivan & Schlieman Wealth (BBA ’83) Susan M. Boyd Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. Management, LLC Consultant Paul R. Sinsheimer Charles S. Kolodkin President, Chairman Michael William Browder George Grant Tribble (MBA ’81), Executive Elizabeth W. Camp and CEO (Former) (BBA ’84), Executive Vice (BBA ’85, MBA ’01, MPH ’10) Director of Enterprise Risk, President and CEO Financial Federal Corporation President & Chief Financial Cleveland Clinic William Bradley Turner, III D F Management, Inc. Officer, RegionalCare W. E. “Brother” Stewart, Jr. (BBA ’03), Partner, Yates, Hospital Partners Andrew Cary Lipman Phillip E. Casey President Woolfolk & Turner Insurance Chairman (Retired) (BBA ’96), Director of Bibb Distributing Company Christopher W. Brown Purchasing, DiversiTech William E. Underwood, III Gerdau Ameristeel (BBA ’87), Senior Vice William D. Young, Jr. Corporation (BBA ’85), Founder and President-Investment Richard W. Courts IV Partner Managing Partner Officer, Brown Miller Wealth Luther A. Lockwood President General Wholesale Company Ironwood Insurance Services Atlantic Realty Company Management Group of Wells (BBA ’89), Managing Principal ALUMNI BOARD Fargo Advisors, LLC MBL Advisors, Inc. Thomas O. Usilton Jr. Jay M. Davis OF DIRECTORS (ABJ ’74), Chief Development Blake F. Bruce (BBA ’03) Anthony A. Martin Chairman and CEO Officer, Radiology Partners, Senior Vice President, Merrill (MBA ’00), Principal, M3 National Distributing Chair Inc. Company, Inc. Cecil R. Cooke (BBA ’75) Lynch Advisors/Martin Financial Managing Director Group Thomas William Walden Darren W. DeVore Rodney Bullard (MBA ’12) Aon Risk Services (BBA ’73), Principal, Dixon VP of Community Affairs, James Clifford McCurry Principal Hughes Goodman, LLP Carroll Organization Vice Chair Chick-fil-A, Inc,Execu - (BBA ’71), Vice Chairman John F. Schraudenbach tive Director, Chick-fil-A Seacrest Partners, Inc. Craig C. Walker (AB ’85) Virginia C. Drosos (BBA ’81, MAcc ’82) Foundation Managing Director – President & CEO Scott C. McGee (BBA ’92) Partner, EY Investments, Merrill Lynch – Stacy A. Chick (BBA ’84) Partner, KPMG Assurex Health The Chappell Walker Group Secretary/Treasurer VP, US Specialty Sales Hillel A. Feinberg Hollis Dorsey Meidl Oliver Logan Ide Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals Nancy Wright Whatley Chairman and CEO (BBA ’83), Managing Director (JD ’95, MBA ’95) (BBA ’81), Vice President – First Southwest Company Matthew D. Clark US Healthcare Practice Managing Partner Entrepreneurial Development (BBA ’92, MAcc ’93, MBA ’04) Leader, Marsh USA Elisha W. Finney Foundry Capital, LLC Metro Atlanta Chamber of Executive Vice President Brian James Cossaboom Stephen A. Molinari Commerce Immediate Past Chair and CFO, Varian Medical (MBA ’97), Strategy & (BBA ‘98), Vice President of F. M. Buck Wiley, III Vicki Brinson Williams Systems Operations Executive, IBM Sales and Marketing (JD ’92, MBA ’92) (BSED ’95, MBA ’05) Corridor Group Theodore R. French, Jr. Managing Director – Thomas Marvin Cotney, Jr. Senior Vice President, President and CEO Investments, Merrill Lynch (BBA ’80), CEO, mBlox Timothy W. Murphy, Jr. Compensation, Benefits & Claviger Capital, LLC (BBA ’96), Senior Vice HRIS, NBC Universal Robert G. Aitkens Patrick K. Coyne (MBA ’94) President, Finance (BBA ’75, MAcc ’81) Managing Director Lizanne C. Gottung RockTenn President, Aitkens & Lincolnshire Management, Inc. Senior Vice President, YOUNG ALUMNI BOARD Human Resources Aitkens, P.C. Clarence Vaughan Nalley, IV Zack C. Deming (BBA ’01) Kimberly-Clark (BBA ’03), President Chair James W. Barge (BBA ’78) Client Partner, Korn Ferry Sons Automotive Group Michael D. Patrick (BBA ’03) Chief Financial Officer C. William Griffin Steven L. Denton (BBA ’87) Vice President, Capital Lionsgate Gerald O’Meara Executive Vice President, CEO, Beecher Carlson; Markets, Carroll Organization Senior Managing Director (BBA ’97, MBA ’00) M. Brantley Barrow Regional Vice President, Black Knight Financial Senior Vice President (BBA ’76), Consultant Brown & Brown, Inc. Services CB Richard Ellis DPR Hardin Construction Ed Ferguson (BBA ’93) John H. Heyman James Burgess Patton W. Craig Barrs (BBA ’80) Managing Director Partner, Actuate Partners (BBA ’81), Managing Executive Vice President, Raymond James & Principal and Chief External Affairs, Georgia Associates, Inc. David E. Homrich Executive Officer, Patton Executive Vice President for Power Company Scott C. Ferguson (BBA ’77) Albertson & Miller, LLC Finance & Investments Danette Jones Beck Executive Vice President, AMB Group, LLC Robert Howe Pinckney (BBA ’94), Senior Vice Underwriters Safety & (BBA ’82), Chief Executive President, Marsh Claims, Inc. John W. Jackson Officer, EvoShield, LLC President and CEO Brian S. Beckwith (BBA ’91) Jacob J. Ferro, Jr. Bank of Atlanta Scott James Russell (BBA ’88) Chief Executive Officer (AB ’96, MBA ’03) Principal Consultant Formation Capital, LLC Chief Information Officer Boland T. Jones Midtown Consulting Group Chairman and CEO American Cancer Society, Inc. Premiere Global Services, Inc. Camille Jenkins Russo (BBA ’94), Chief Financial Officer, Alta Innovations 4 terry.uga.edu Dean’s Message Surging ahead This is an exciting time to be a part of the Terry College.