Arias, David

Class of '03
Swimways Corporation, President/Owner

David Arias is the President and part owner of Swimways Corporation, a manufacturer and distributor of recreational consumer products based in Virginia Beach, VA. He is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the company, creating a work environment that promotes success and commitment, and controlling the finances to maintain and increase profits.  Prior to becoming President, David was responsible for all aspects of product development, pricing and promotion, and also directed the creative staff, outside sales force and internal sales support.

David is very involved in numerous activities within the non-profit arena and is committed to serving those in the local community. He is an active Board member of the United Way of Hampton Roads and former Chairman of the Tocqueville Society. During his tenure, he increased public and business awareness of the organization along with generating new pledges and funds.  David is a Board Member of the Virginia Aquarium and a member of their Marketing Committee.  He is a Corporate Board Member of Heritage Bank in Norfolk, VA and also sits on the Audit Committee. He is a board member of the Eastern Virginia Medical School and the Hampton Roads Civic Leadership Council.  Professionally, he is a member of the Young Presidents Organization and the Toy Industry Association. David is most proud that Swimways was named the 2011 Best Small Business to work for in Hampton Roads Inside Business Magazine and the winner of Operation Smile's humanitarian company of the year.

David holds a BA in Economics and Spanish from Hampden-Sydney College and a Masters of Business Administration from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He is happily married to Valerie, a Duke alumna, and has three children:  Megan, a senior at Duke University, Jason, a freshman at Vanderbilt University and Carly, a sophomore at Norfolk Academy. David and his family enjoy residing in his hometown of beautiful Virginia Beach.

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Bakita, Tom

Class of '04
Aviat Networks, Senior Marketing Manager

Tom Bakita is the Senior Marketing Manager for IP Core initiatives at Aviat Networks. The solution enables high speed (4G) internet access to mobile devices. In this role Tom works closely with service providers around the world and travels internationally to support accounts and opportunities. Prior to joining Aviat Networks, Tom worked at Cisco Systems for 10 years as product line manager and software development engineer for mobile wireless systems. Prior to Cisco Systems, Tom worked at IBM Corporation for 10 years in a variety of mainframe-based software development and marketing roles. While at IBM Tom, lived for some time in London, England, supporting European accounts. Tom holds a BS in computer science from the Lyman Briggs School at Michigan State University and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He has enjoyed executive education in Marketing Management at Harvard Business School and a short course in cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Tom and his wife, Rali, have two children, Alex (12) and DiDi (10), and reside in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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Bingaman, Peter

Class of '00
Technology Solutions Marketing, Principal and Founder

Peter is an accomplished global technology marketing leader who has generated over $125 million in profitable revenue growth for companies such as IBM, Nortel, LexisNexis and Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising. As a principal and founder of Technology Solutions Marketing, Peter now helps mid-size technology companies build greater marketing discipline and capability that will enable his clients to significantly accelerate the growth of their respective companies. Prior to founding Technology Solutions Marketing, Peter was Vice President of Global Marketing for Nortel Networks, Executive Managing Director for LexisNexis and Vice President of Product Marketing at IBM. Prior to IBM, Peter spent several years in Europe managing Saatchi & Saatchi's pan-European network supporting the Hewlett-Packard account.

Peter is a former board member of the Wilton Little League and Wilton Education Foundation. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Bucknell University in 1986.  He received his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business in 2000.

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Carpinella, Ron

Class of '05
Equifax, Inc., Vice President - ID Management

Ron Carpinella joined the alumni council in 2007. Carpinella has worked in the technology, marketing and advertising industry for nearly twenty years, including over a decade in internet technology and the online media industry. An authority on identity management and user-centric identity eco-systems, he has been an active contributor to public and private efforts to better secure the internet and individual identities online. Recently he has been part of the efforts in developing President's National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) work with both commercial and government partners to establish a more secure internet and its supported systems. He is a veteran of Google, the U.S. Navy, CMGI, J. Walter Thompson, FCB. In his current position, Carpinella is building Equifax's Identity Management tools for industry and consumers. 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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Coats, Cari Haught

Class of '03
C2 Advisors, Inc., President

Cari H. Coats is president of C2 Advisors, Inc. providing advisory services that leverage Coats' extensive executive-level management, strategy, governance and succession, and marketing experience. Coats is also managing partner of SeaChange Venture Philanthropy, a global VP firm that mobilizes high growth entrepreneurial ventures, private foundations and non-profits for sustainable social impact, as well as serves on the adjunct faculty and manages the entrepreneurship program at the nationally-recognized Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. Coats works extensively with entrepreneurial and social entrepreneurship ventures, as well as sources of investment capital and venture philanthropy.  Prior positions Coats has held include chief operating officer with CNL Real Estate Advisors, chief strategy officer with CNL Financial Group, Executive Vice President of the NBA-franchise Orlando Magic and Producer/Co-Host of the nationally syndicated television show PM Magazine. Coats is Chairman of the board of Bajalia International Group, a fair-trade wholesale distributor of artisan-quality goods sourced from more than 20 under-developed nations across the globe.  Additionally, she serves on the governing body for Athena PowerLink Orlando which provides peer-to-peer mentoring to high potential women-owned businesses.  Coats community and civic involvement, particularly with charities focused on children and underserved populations, is longstanding and far-reaching.  Coats is a graduate of the Global Executive MBA program at Duke University.  Her undergraduate alma mater is the University of Central Florida where she received her B.A. in Communications-Radio/TV.  Coats is married to Russell Coats.  They reside in Orlando, FL with their twin, 15-year-old daughters, Kate and Maddie.

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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 has been CFO and Vice-President of Business Development for Sarcode Biosciences since November 2010. SarCode is a private company developing LFA-1 antagonists to treat diseases in ophthalmology, dermatology and other inflammatory conditions. In the summer of 2011, Sarcode successfully completed a $44m financing and initiated pivotal trials of its lead candidate, SAR1118, for the treatment of dry eye. From January 2007 through September 2010, he was the CFO of Sirion Therapeutics, a private company that developed and marketed ophthalmic pharmaceuticals. He was responsible for financing strategy, accounting, capital structure, treasury, legal and information technology activities of the company. Sirion raised over $100 million in debt and equity during that time to support the license and development of six late-stage clinical programs; two of which were eventually approved by the FDA and commercialized by Sirion. In the first half of 2010 he helped lead the sale of Sirion's drug assets to Alcon and Bausch and Lomb.

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 biotech and specialty pharmaceutical companies, including the investment that launched Sirion Therapeutics. Prior to NovaQuest, Todd co-founded Centice, an optical sensor spin-out from Duke University. He also has over 10 years of experience consulting to pharmaceutical, biotech and high-tech companies; both 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. He and his wife, Heather, live in Tampa, Florida, and have two children: Ty (6) and Caden (4).

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Crute, Liz

Class of '95
Pitney Bowes Inc., Division Vice President

Liz Crute is a seasoned business leader who has held several leadership positions in her 27 years with Pitney Bowes. Most recently, Liz held the role of Division Vice President where she led her business unit to record results. Previously, Liz held the role of National VP for the Finance arm of PB where she combined her finance and general business knowledge to help grow the lucrative part of the company and create new revenue streams. Liz has the distinction of being featured, along with six other PB employees, on the cover of FORTUNE magazine highlighting how employees were taking different career paths to get to the top of a corporation.

Liz received her undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and graduated from the Fuqua School of Business in 1995. Liz is involved in many of her church sponsored charities and has also led letter writing campaigns to soldiers serving overseas, as well as been active in Big Sisters programs. Liz and her husband Hunter live in Raleigh, NC, and have five children. Their oldest daughter, Courtney, is a teacher in Chile, their second daughter, Meredith, is a senior at ECU, and their "little kids" are eight -year-old triplets, Jennifer, Hunter IV and Hutcheson. In her spare time, Liz likes to spend time with her family and also to swim, bike and run! Liz just completed her first triathlon in May!

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Dunn, Dina

Class of '93
Blink LLC, Founder and General Partner

As founder and General Partner of Blink, a marketing and communications agency in North Carolina, Dina works with manufacturing-based industries to transform short and long-term practices into sustainable initiatives. Dina speaks extensively about the rising influence of LOHAS consumers and their demands for eco-friendly products and services. Dina works with manufacturers, brands and retailers to identify opportunities and define responsible strategies and communication plans that build credibility and brand equity with critical stakeholders. Prior to founding Blink, Dina worked in Marketing for firms such as Reckitt & Colman, Kayser-Roth and Nylstar, Inc.

Dina earned her BA from Colgate University and her MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. She currently serves as the Board Chair of The Greensboro Montessori School, was elected to Goldman Sachs' Vantage Marketplace as a consultant to the apparel industry and is an active member of Sustainable North Carolina. Dina and her husband, Mike, have two children and live in Greensboro, North Carolina.

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