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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Correll, Kraig

Class of '05
Barclays, Vice President, Investment Management

 Kraig Correll is a Private Banker at Barclays Wealth in the in the New York office.  He joined Barclays in 2008 as part of the acquisition of Lehman Brothers. Prior to Lehman, Kraig had a successful 17 year career at Merck & Company where he was an Associate Director of Cardiovascular Global Marketing.

      Kraig holds a BS in Chemistry and Business Management from Moravian College and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He lives in Easton, PA with his wife Kathy and their three children.  Kraig coaches football and wrestling for a local youth organization.

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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

Vice Chair, Alumni Council

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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Eisner, Cindy

Class of '10
TPI, Director of Governance Services

Cindy Eisner is a seasoned business leader having held multiple leadership positions in Finance, IT and Operations. Currently, a Director of Governance Services with Technology Partners International (TPI), Cindy consults with clients on the Governance of their Outsourcing Relationships.  Prior to TPI, Cindy held senior IT positions with Staples, Inc., the leading office supplies retailer.  At Staples, Cindy led the IT Vendor and Contract Management group and the Global Systems Integration for Staples' acquisition of Corporate Express.  Her experience also includes positions at Software Spectrum, Corporate Software and Digital Equipment Corporation, where she graduated from the Financial Management Program (FDP).  Cindy graduated from Fuqua's Global Executive Program in 2010. She has been actively involved in Girl Scouts of Eastern MA, having been a leader for thirteen years and held many Service Unit positions.  In addition, Cindy has coached soccer, held positions on School Parent Organizations and Junior Achievement.  Cindy and her daughter, Samantha, live outside of Boston, MA.  Samantha will be attending University of California Santa Barbara in the fall, with a major in Zoology.

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Escobar, Sylvia

Class of '95
Agilent Technologies, Vice President Sales and Marketing

Sylvia Escobar is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Agilent Technologies for the Americas and is based in Cary, North Carolina.  She has extensive experience in sales /marketing  and has served in a variety of different  leadership positions in her 30 year tenure with Hewlett-Packard/Agilent.  Agilent is the world's premier measurement company; providing leading measurement solutions for electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis.  Sylvia leads an organization that is responsible for marketing, sales and support of instruments used for chemical analysis in a variety of different markets such as food safety testing, environmental, forensics and energy.  With the recent growth opportunities in emerging markets, Sylvia has developed strategic business plans for Brazil and Mexico and travels frequently to both countries.

Sylvia received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the Duke Fuqua School of Business, Weekend MBA Program. 

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Garcia, David

Class of '09
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Senior Associate - Health Industries Advisory Practice

David Garcia is a Senior Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the Health Industries Advisory Practice. At PwC, David provides strategic advisory services to healthcare providers (healthcare systems, hospitals, etc.) focusing on health information technology.

David received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Boston University and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.  While at Fuqua, David was a DAR Fellow and a Rollins Scholar.  Before attending Fuqua, David worked as a consultant for Cerner Corporation, a leading U.S. supplier of healthcare information technology solutions.  David was also the Founder/CEO of DG Realty Group, LLC, a residential real estate investment firm.  In his spare time, David enjoys traveling, motorcycle riding and spending time with family and friends.

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Gardner, Penelope

Class of '87
IBM, Certified Professional Coactive Coach (CPCC)

A Duke MBA and certified professional coactive coach (CPCC), Penelope's blend of business experience and coaching leadership style has the impact on individuals, partnerships and teams to achieve what they want; often moving from good to great.  Ninety percent of her experience is with large Corporations including IBM, Alcatel and Westinghouse; the balance is in non-profit and municipal government.

In IBM partnerships with independent software vendors (ISVs) and universities, Penelope's communications and relationship management skills contribute significantly to the team effort to identify and execute on the right partnership initiatives from building skills and capability of students to ISV solution enablement, marketing and sales.  As a manager, she received an award for her highly motivating and inspiring leadership.  Feedback from teams she has coached highlights her ability to increase team collaboration and produce improved results. 

With a passion for learning and leveraging diversity at Alcatel, Penelope was chosen to lead US- and Europe-based worldwide marketing teams.  She developed corporate identity programs and product marketing campaigns that were regarded as models to follow.

Leadership, innovative thinking, outstanding communication and facilitation skills are Penelope's hallmarks demonstrated in the achievement of results for Corporate, public and non-profit entities.

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Gunter, Mick

Class of '04
Primo Water Corporation, Vice President, Operations

Mr. Gunter has served as Primo Water Corporation's Senior Vice President of Operations since March 2010 and previously served as Vice President of Operations from the company's founding in October 2004 through February 2010. Prior to joining Primo Water Corporation, he served as the Senior Director of Strategy and Financial Analysis as well as the Director of Information Technology for Blue Rhino Corporation from 2000 until October 2004. Mr. Gunter served as an Artillery Officer in the United States Marine Corps from 1990 to 1996.  Mr. Gunter received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Master of Arts in Education from Wake Forest University, and a Master in Business Administration from Duke University. Michael is the founder and executive director of the Angels Foundation, and serves on several community boards in Winston-Salem, where he resides with his wife, Tanya, and three sons, Bailey, Stephen and Paul.

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