By Dan Caterinicchia, University Communications and Marketing
The 91社区 is welcoming back to campus members of a newly created presidential advisory group that includes 14 esteemed alumni who are renowned leaders in their respective fields around the world.
The inaugural President鈥檚 Global Leadership Council is being chaired by Steve Presley 鈥90, executive vice president of Nestle S.A., and CEO of Nestle North America. These exceptional leaders will create meaningful engagement opportunities around the globe and advise USF President Rhea Law.
![President Law and member of the Global Leadership Council](/news/images/2024/university-of-south-florida-welcomes-presidents-new-global-leadership-council/glc-law.png)
Steve Presley, chair of the President鈥檚 Global Leadership Council, and President Rhea Law
"In our pursuit of excellence and commitment to providing a world-class educational experience at the 91社区, we continue to grow our engagement across the globe. This new council will play a significant role in helping our university address pressing challenges and bold opportunities that emerge on the world stage," said Law. "This group includes some of our university鈥檚 most accomplished alumni who are collectively making a major impact worldwide. I extend my sincere appreciation to our inaugural chair Steve Presley and to all the council members for lending their time, talent and expertise in support of strengthening and expanding USF鈥檚 global footprint.鈥
Members will be encouraged to provide strategic advice and counsel to USF leadership through roundtables, corporate partnerships, networking and events. 鈥淢y experiences at USF contributed significantly to many of my professional accomplishments,鈥 Presley said. 鈥淚t has long been my pleasure to give back to my alma mater and support our students and our community. Serving as the inaugural chair of the PGLC is truly an honor and I could not be more excited to work with my fellow Bulls in service to President Law and our USF family.鈥
More than half of the PGLC members just completed a two-day orientation visit that included tours of numerous campus buildings, a trip to USF Health facilities in downtown Tampa, and opportunities to interact with university leaders, faculty and students.
Joining Presley on the council are:
- Anthony D. 鈥淭ony鈥 Giarratana, 鈥80, Finance, President of Giarratana, LLC
- John Robert Bailey, 鈥83, Finance, Owner and CEO of Virginia Dare Jamaica Ltd.
- Fran莽ois Bertrand Rioux, 鈥84, Accounting and Chemistry, President of Rioux
- Salim Bitar, 鈥85, Finance, Group chief financial officer at Abu Dhabi Capital Group
- Abdalla Hashim BaniHammad, 鈥87 & MS 鈥88, Electrical Engineering, Former CEO of Etisalat Services Holding, a wholly owned subsidiary of Etisalat Group
- Aris Bogdaneris, 鈥87, International Relations, Group head of Canadian Banking for Scotiabank
- Walid Abukhaled, 鈥89, Industrial Engineering, CEO of Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI)
- Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Al-Shehhi, 鈥90, Electrical Engineering, Former undersecretary of economic affairs for United Arab Emirates and chairman and founder of Euromercato
- Kimberly Ross, 鈥92, Accounting, Board member of Nestl茅 SA, KKR and Co., and Cigna Corp., among others and former CFO of WeWork
- Meshal Abdul Aziz Al-Othman, 鈥96, Marketing, CEO and co-founder of Capital Asset Management
- Gayle Sheppard, 鈥00, Accounting, Corporate director for Nutanix, and a corporate global director for AstroScale
- Turki Al Shehri, 鈥02, Electrical Engineering, Group vice president for ENGIE鈥檚 Key Client Office
- John Fieldly, 鈥04, Accounting, Chairman and CEO of Celsius Holdings Inc.