Baggett, Kelvin

Class of '06
HCA Inc., COO, CSG & VP, Clinical Strategy

Dr. Kelvin A. Baggett is a 2006 graduate of the Daytime MBA program. After completing his MBA, he joined HCA (Hospital Corporation of America) as a strategic business consultant. He currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of the HCA Clinical Services Group. In this role he is responsible for providing leadership in the creation and execution of strategies to improve quality, safety and clinical performance throughout HCA.

Baggett holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from East Carolina University, a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Baggett completed his training in internal medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine, Yale-New Haven Hospital. He completed additional training as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and as a fellow in the Division of General Internal Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, he currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Benecchi, Chris

Class of '97
Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Director, Neuroscience Marketing

Chris Benecchi joined Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America in September 1999 and has since held sales and marketing positions that include Government Sales Manager, Regional Sales Director, and Senior Product Manager, Neuroscience Marketing. Currently, Benecchi is responsible for the development and execution of marketing strategies and tactics to launch ROZEREM™ (ramelteon), a treatment for insomnia, to patients and consumers via all media. Prior to working for Takeda, Benecchi was employed by Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho Biotech division. While at Ortho Biotech, he held various positions in both sales and national account management. Benecchi is a 1993 graduate of Colby College in Waterville, Maine, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude. He holds a BA in East Asia studies and has lived and traveled extensively in Asia. In his spare time, Benecchi enjoys long-distance running and writing fiction. He, his wife, Megan, and two children reside in Winnetka, Illinois.

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Block, Josh

Class of '98
Goldman Sachs & Company, Vice President

Joshua Block joined Goldman, Sachs & Company in 1998 after graduating from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He received his BA in history from Cornell University in 1992. Prior to graduate school, Block worked for the Block China Corporation, an importer of fine china and crystal in New York. Block serves on the board of Hazon, and is a member of Natan, a philanthropic network funding creative and socially meaningful Jewish projects. Block and his wife, Allison, have two children: Charlie (four) and Isabel (two).

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Carpinella, Ron

Class of '05
Veoh Networks, Director

Ron Carpinella joined the alumni council in 2007. Carpinella has worked in the marketing and advertising industry for over seventeen years, including a decade in the online media world. An authority on internet marketing, he is a veteran of Google, CMGI, J. Walter Thompson, Foote Cone & Belding. In his current position, Carpinella is building the advertising sales operations at Allconnect, in Atlanta. In his spare time, he serves as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and in municipal government. He is passionate about flying, Porsches, and shows his 1959 convertible at shows around the south.

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Chappell, Scott

Class of '94
BIA Digital Partners, Partner - Private Equity Investor

Scott Chappell is a partner with BIA Digital Partners, a private investment firm with over $280 million of capital under management. BIA provides subordinated debt and equity capital to middle-market companies operating in the media, communications, information services, and business services industries. Scott joined BIA Digital Partners in 2001 and has served as a board member on ten of BIA’s portfolio companies. Prior to BIA, Scott was an investment banker with Thomas Weisel Partners in New York and with First Union Securities (now Wachovia Securities) in Charlotte. Scott received a B.S. in Business Administration with Honors from the University of Georgia and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, where he was a Fuqua Scholar. Prior to Fuqua, Scott was a Senior Consultant with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in Atlanta. Scott is married with three children and lives in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys participating in and coaching sports including lacrosse, basketball, and soccer. He and his wife teach a 5th grade Sunday School class. He remains involved with both Fuqua and the University of Georgia.

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Childre, Jimmy

Class of '01
Childre Ford-Mercury, Inc., President

Jimmy Childre opened his full-service Ford dealership, Childre Ford-Mercury, after working for three years as General Manager in his father’s General Motors dealership. Childre is past Chairman of the Atlanta District Ford Dealers Advertising Association and the past Vice Chairman of Ford’s National Dealer Council, a group that works directly with senior management at Ford Motor Company on behalf of all Ford dealers in the country. Childre’s dealership has won numerous awards including Ford’s prestigious Chairman’s Award. In 2007 Childre received a master of studies degree in community enterprise from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and a Health Sector Management certificate from The Fuqua School of Business. His research interest at Cambridge University was focused on strategic decision making in U.S. community hospitals. Past academic pursuits include graduation from Harvard Business School’s Owner/President Management Program and a BBA in accounting from Georgia Southern University. Childre is a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. He is Chairman of the Washington County Regional Medical Center and a Trustee and past Chairman of the Georgia Southern University Foundation. Childre also serves on the boards for the Citizens Bank of Washington County and the Buckley School of Public Speaking and Disciplined Thinking. He is a past board member of the Georgia Southern University College of Business Administration, of which he was named “Alumnus of the Year” in 1993. Childre is active in Rotary International where he is a Paul Harris Fellow and past President of the Sandersville Rotary Club.

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Conkling, Lori

Class of '99
Lifetime Networks, Executive Vice President, Distribution

Lori Conkling was named Executive Vice President, Distribution, of Lifetime Networks, in March 2008. In her role, Conkling is responsible for overseeing Lifetime Network's overall distribution strategy across multiple platforms, from linear, VOD, HD and interactive to mobile, including Lifetime Television and Lifetime Movie Network, the #1 and #2 networks for women, as well as Lifetime Real Women. She also supervises the expansion of new and existing product platforms, including Lifetime On Demand, Lifetime HD and Lifetime Movie Network HD, and oversees such areas as field sales, national accounts, affiliate marketing, affiliate ad sales, affiliate strategy and distribution legal.

Conkling joined Lifetime from Disney and ESPN Media Networks, where, since 2004, she served as Vice President, National Accounts. While there, she was responsible for executing complex, multi-product national distribution deals for linear channels, VOD and pay-per-view services, broadband products and interactive TV applications. In her role, Conkling negotiated on behalf of Disney, ESPN, ABC and ABC News, among others. She rose to this position after having served as Director, National Accounts, for the ABC Cable Networks Group.

Prior to joining Disney and ESPN Media Networks, Conkling worked in the Media & Entertainment practice at Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting), specializing in analyzing and developing corporate strategies for publishing, film and telecommunications companies.

Conkling received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and a MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. She also is a member of Class 12 of the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute, WICT's prestigious training program for executive women in the telecommunications industry.

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Creech, Todd

Class of '03
Sirion Therapeutics, Chief Financial Officer

Todd Creech is the CFO of Sirion Therapeutics, a private pharmaceutical company that develops and markets ophthalmic pharmaceuticals. He is responsible for financing strategy, accounting, capital structure, treasury, compensation structure, and information technology activities of the company. To date, Sirion has raised over $105 million in debt and equity to finance operations, including the launch of their first product in 2008 and the ongoing development of four additional late-stage clinical programs. Prior to Sirion, Todd worked with NovaQuest, the investment group within Quintiles, Inc, where he structured, placed and managed capital investments into U.S. emerging biotechs, including the investment that launched Sirion Therapeutics. Prior to NovaQuest, Todd co-founded Centice, an optical sensor spin-out of Duke University. He has over 10 years of experience investing in and consulting to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including consulting for startups and Fortune 100 companies while at SRI International and Andersen Consulting. Todd holds bachelor's degrees in Finance and Accounting from Miami (Ohio) University and a MBA from Duke University (Daytime 2003; Health Sector Management). He and his wife, Heather, live in Tampa, Florida, and have two children: Ty (four) and Caden (2).

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Crew, Jason

Class of '05
GE Energy, Gasification, Product Line Manager, 50Hz IGCC

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Dansby, Stewart

Class of '92
Global Network Foundation, Chairman

Stewart Dansby currently serves as Chairman of the Global Network Foundation, a supporting foundation to the Society of International Business Fellows (SIBF). The foundation’s mission is to facilitate global philanthropy in partnership with foundations, institutions, corporations, and individuals by leveraging the expertise of SIBF members to further global understanding. The foundation focuses on projects that permit members to give of their time and expertise as well as their financial support. Dansby serves on the boards of several institutions including Birmingham Landmarks, Inc., Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust, Friends of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Friends of Linn Park, Society of International Business Fellows, and the Advisory Board of the UAB School of Health Professions. He is a former Chairman of McWane Science Center, and is a past board member of the Ruth Mott Fund, the Alabama Humanities Foundation, Birmingham Historical Society and others. In 1996, Dansby was named “Outstanding Civic Leader” by the Alabama Chapter of the National Society of Fundraising Executives (now known as the Association of Fundraising Professionals.) Dansby has two children: Stewart Jr., Duke University ’07, and Susan, a senior at Miami University of Ohio.

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