David Snow and Ashley Snow

For the Snows, Fuqua is a family affair. David Snow is a 1978 graduate of the Master of Health Administration program, which at the time was run jointly by the medical school and the business school. Daughter Ashley graduated from Fuqua in May 2017 with a Master of Management Studies degree. In fact, Duke was where this family began. It was during his time in the MHA program that Dave met Lynette, a nursing student from East Carolina University doing her summer internship at Duke Hospital. With Duke as a launch pad for Dave's successful career in health care, the Snow family has now left a lasting legacy at Duke by endowing the Snow Family Professorship with a $2.5 million commitment to Fuqua.

"The MHA program prepared me well for a career and a diverse set of experiences in health care," said Dave. "My family and I are proud to contribute to Fuqua developing the next generation of leaders through the instruction of exceptional faculty."

When asked about his favorite experiences in the MHA program, Dave cited several faculty members whose expertise in hospital administration and health care systems have been invaluable as his career has progressed. By any measure, that career has been extraordinary. From running pharmacy benefit managers, health plans, hospitals and physician groups, Dave's resume runs the gamut of health care expertise with impressive results.

Dave began his career in hospital administration before moving on to run health plans. In 1988, he founded AmeriChoice, which he sold to United Healthcare five years later for $570 million. From there, he moved to Oxford Health Plans, a five-state regional health plan that he grew from 500,000 to 6 million members in five years, and then Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, an ailing health plan that he turned around and took public in 2002.

Shifting gears to pharmacy benefits, Dave joined Medco Health Solutions as CEO in March 2003 to manage Medco's spinoff from parent company, Merck & Co., taking the company public on the New York Stock Exchange five months later. In 2010, he was named #27 on Harvard Business Review's list of "Best Performing CEOs in the World." Ultimately during his tenure as Chairman and CEO, Dave more than doubled the company's revenues from $34 billion to $72 billion and engineered Medco's merger with Express Scripts in 2012.

Dave is currently the Chairman and CEO of Cedar Gate Technologies, Inc., a health care predictive and prescriptive analytics company that he founded in 2014. The strategic intent of the company is to acquire and build the talent, software and services required to provide world-class health care analytics to integrated delivery systems and accountable care organizations (ACOs).

Dave credits the MHA program with giving him the foundational skills needed for success at each stage of his career. He has stayed connected with the school over the years, returning several times to speak in classes and serving on Fuqua's Board of Visitors.

The Snow family's connection to Fuqua deepened in fall of 2016 as daughter Ashley enrolled in the Master of Management Studies (MMS) program. A graduate of Clemson University, Ashley has her eye on a career in marketing, and feels that the MMS program has been pivotal in her training.

"The MMS program has been great preparation. I enjoyed my classes, and I've benefitted greatly from the school's focus on team-based learning. My team is very diverse—we have people from all over the world with a variety of backgrounds," says Ashley. "We have learned how to identify each other's strengths and weaknesses to work through problems as a team. It's a skill that I know will be essential throughout my career."

With their investment in faculty, the Snow family is addressing a critical need for the school and helping to close the gap in an area in which fundraising has been particularly difficult. Just 41% of Fuqua's faculty hold named chairs—a number that falls behind most top business schools. Through the Duke Forward campaign, Fuqua sought to invest $40 million to support faculty research and teaching.

"Dave and Lynette's support of faculty is critically important as we compete for talent with the top business schools in the world," said Dean Bill Boulding. "We have an exceptional faculty who are recognized worldwide for their research and teaching prowess. Endowed professorships like the Snow Family Professorship enable us to recognize excellence among our faculty and to attract new scholars to our community. We are deeply grateful for their support."

For their part, Dave and Lynette are happy to help fill a need at Fuqua and encourage others to follow. When making philanthropic decisions, the Snows look to support noble causes and organizations that are working in unique ways.

"Fuqua is a place that is markedly different," said Dave. "Duke has vision and a unique and different way of training high-performing graduates. Having searched for talent at a number of organizations, the Team Fuqua approach creates leaders who are passionate, who work well in teams, and who can lead through teams. I'm proud to be part of that."