Dean’s Speaker Series

Robert Isom is Chief Executive Officer of American Airlines Group and American Airlines, its principal subsidiary company. He also serves on the airline’s board of directors. Robert assumed the role of CEO in March 2022.

Robert served as President of American from 2016 to 2022. In that role he oversaw the airline’s commercial and operations activities. Prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of American after holding those same positions at US Airways.

Prior to joining US Airways, Robert held senior executive finance, commercial, operations, strategy and international roles at GMAC, LLC, Northwest Airlines and America West Airlines. He started his career at The Procter & Gamble Company.

Robert is oneworld Alliance Governing Board Chairman, vice chair of the Airlines for America Board of Directors, and a member of the International Air Transport Association Board of Governors. He is also a member of the Airlink Governor’s Council.

Robert earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Notre Dame, as well as a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

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For more than 30 years, John has harnessed the power of technology to make meaningful connections. Through Qudit, John is focused on long-term investments in innovation and technology-enabled businesses. As a technologist, his interests range from AI and quantum to hypersonic and high-performance computing.

John is the lead independent director of Palo Alto Networks, a director at Lockheed Martin, a member and the former chair of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, as well as an author.

As CTO & CEO, John led AT&T Communications in expanding the company’s overall innovation program. John oversaw the company’s global leadership in 5G, led the industry in the transition to software-defined technology, and worked with application developers to make AT&T’s network open to collaboration and innovation.

Arthur Brooks is a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership and happiness. He is also the host of the weekly podcast “Office Hours with Arthur Brooks,” and a columnist at The Atlantic, where he writes the popular weekly “How to Build a Life” column.

Brooks is the author of 15 books, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers, Build the Life You Want, co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, and From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. His next book, The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness, will be released on March 31, 2026.

Brooks is one of the world’s leading experts on the science of human happiness, appearing in the media and traveling the world to teach people in private companies, universities, public agencies, and faith communities how they can live happier lives and bring greater well-being to others.

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Paolo Carozza joined the Notre Dame Law School faculty in 1996. His expertise is in the areas of comparative constitutional law, human rights, law and development, and international law. From 2012-2022 he served as the Director of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, an interdisciplinary, university-wide institute focusing primarily on the themes of democracy and human development, where he was also the principal investigator of the Notre Dame Constitutionalism and Rule of Law Lab (CAROLL). Professor Carozza is also a Faculty Fellow of the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, the Institute for Educational Initiatives, the Pulte Institute for Global Development, and the Notre Dame Religious Liberty Initiative.

Carozza currently serves as a member of the Oversight Board, an independent expert body created by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to render binding decisions and policy recommendations regarding difficult content moderation questions on Meta’s platforms.

Tony Alvarez II is co-founder of Alvarez & Marsal – a global consulting firm that provides restructuring, performance improvement, and M&A transaction services.

Alvarez has a proven track record as a restructuring and turnaround expert successfully guiding companies through complex financial and operating challenges. Tony has successfully led numerous engagements, including Resorts International, Warnaco, Levi Strauss, and Interstate Bakeries.

Before co-founding Alvarez & Marsal, Tony spent 12 years at Coopers & Lybrand and two years at Norton Simon. Tony has an undergraduate degree in finance from De La Salle University in the Philippines and MBA from New York University, Stern School of Business. He serves on the Boards of NYU-Stern, Cancer Research Institute and Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation.

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As President, League Operations at the National Basketball Association, Byron Spruell oversees critical league operations, including domestic and international Basketball Operations, Referee Operations and Basketball Strategy & Analytics. With effective integration of these departments, he is principally responsible for the processes regarding the management of rule changes, the development, evaluation, and training of game officials, the enforcement of conduct standards and discipline, and the application of analytics, innovation and strategy on the future evolution of the game.  Spruell also collaborates with USA Basketball and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to promote the global growth of the game and development of players worldwide.

Prior to joining the NBA in August 2016, Spruell spent 20 years at Deloitte LLP, most recently as its Vice Chairman, Central Region Market Leader.  Spruell, who grew up in Cleveland, earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA in finance from the University of Notre Dame.  He was an offensive lineman and co-captain of the Fighting Irish’s football team and currently serves on the University’s Board of Trustees and as an Advisor on the Monogram Club.  Spruell met his wife, Sedra, at Notre Dame.  They have a son, Devyn, and a daughter, Aleah.

The Moral and Economic Advantages of Customer Capitalism

Named by The Economist as the “high priest” of loyalty, Fred Reichheld is the creator of the Net Promoter System℠ (NPS®) and one of the world’s leading experts on customer and employee loyalty. The best-selling author of five books on loyalty, he is a fellow at Bain & Company and founder of Bain’s Loyalty practice, which helps companies achieve results through customer and employee loyalty.

His latest book, coauthored with Bain’s Darci Darnell and Maureen Burns, is Winning on Purpose (Harvard Business Press, 2021). In the book, Fred reveals how NPS practitioners, including Apple Retail, Philips, Charles Schwab, Allianz, American Express and Intuit, have utilized this system to generate extraordinary results. They also explain how NPS helps companies become truly customer-centric, unleashing profitable growth by systematically converting more customers into promoters and fewer into detractors.

The Business of History and the History of Business

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto is the William P. Reynolds Professor of History
Professor Fernandez-Armesto’s research projects include the history of primatology, of language and of cultural organisms. His current undergraduate classes on global history, environmental history, early colonial Native Mesoamerican source materials, history of exploration, Columbus, and the history of wisdom.

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Dan Helfrich is chair and chief executive officer of Deloitte Consulting LLP, where he leads a growing team of 85,000+ professionals who help clients innovatively face today’s most complex issues. A pioneer in purpose-driven leadership, Dan harnesses the collective, diversified power of his team to create lasting value for clients and society. ​He is an advocate for inclusive culture and continuous innovation and empowers his teams to challenge orthodoxies, collaborate across borders, and take a modern and nimble approach to problem-solving.

With over two decades of experience fueling effective and efficient organizations, Dan leverages his broad influence to inspire others to perform at their best. He remains actively engaged with clients, business partners, and market leaders, frequently sharing his perspective on issues including the evolving nature of the consulting profession, the future of work, and inclusive leadership. Prior to this role, Dan led Deloitte’s  Government & Public Services team fueling customer-centric transformation for state, local, and federal government agencies.

Arthur C. Brooks, Author, Columnist and Harvard Professor
Moving from Strength to Strength in Work, Life & Happiness

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Freeman was announced as the 30th head coach in the history of Notre Dame Football on December 3, 2021. He first joined Notre Dame in 2021 as the defensive coordinator, and previously served as a defensive coach at the University of Cincinnati, Purdue University and Kent State.

As a college player, Freeman was a four-year letter winner for Ohio State from 2004 to 2008, helping to lead the Buckeyes to four conference titles, three BCS bowls and two trips to the national title game. His NFL career included playing for the Chicago Bears, the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Texans.

He graduated from Ohio State in 2007 and returned to the classroom to earn his master’s degree in sports management from Ohio State in 2011. Freeman and his wife, Joanna, have six children: Vinny, Siena, Gino, Nico, Capri and Rocco.

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Dean Martijn Cremers

Martijn Cremers

K.J. Martijn Cremers is the Martin J. Gillen Dean and the Bernard J. Hank Professor of Finance
at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. He served as interim dean at Mendoza from July 2018 to June 2019. Prior to joining Notre Dame in 2012, Cremers was a faculty member at the Yale School of Management from 2002 to 2012. His research and teaching areas are investment management, corporate finance, corporate governance, corporate law, business ethics and Catholic social thought.

Dean Emeritus Roger Huang

Roger D. Huang is the Kenneth R. Meyer Professor of Global Investment Management and was acting Dean from 2011-2012 and served as Dean of the Mendoza College of Business from 2012-2016 . He holds a B.S. in Industrial Management from Purdue, as well as master and doctorate degrees in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Huang teaches global finance in the Executive MBA program, and multinational financial management in the MBA and Undergraduate programs.

Dean Emeritus Carolyn Woo

Carolyn Y. Woo served as dean of the Mendoza College at the University of Notre Dame from 1997 to 2011. During her tenure, the College was ranked for the first time in its history as No. 1 undergraduate program in the nation by Bloomberg Businessweek. Woo was elected the first female chair of AACSB International (accreditation association for business schools worldwide) and led the launch of the Principles for Responsible Management program with the United Nations. She has been recognized as one of 500 of the “Most Powerful People on the Planet” by Foreign Policy Magazine and one of 30 in the category of “A Force for Good.” She is the author of two books, Working for a Better World and Rising: Learning from Women’s Leadership in Catholic Ministries.

Moderator: Brett Beasley

Brett Beasley serves as the Writer and Editorial Program Manager for Notre Dame Research. In collaboration with partners across campus, he tells the story of the University’s research, scholarship, and creative endeavor. He holds a Ph.D. in English from Loyola University Chicago and an MTS from the University of Notre Dame. He is the co-author (with Kerry Temple) of the book O’Hara’s Heirs: Business Education at Notre Dame, 1921-2021, and his articles have appeared in a wide variety of publications, including the Washington Post, Scientific American, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Prior to joining Notre Dame Research, he spent six years with the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership.

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For 33 seasons, which included two national championships, Muffet McGraw patrolled the sidelines as the Karen & Kevin Keyes Family Notre Dame women’s basketball head coach. McGraw hoisted the NCAA national championship trophy in both 2001 and 2018 – becoming the sixth different women’s basketball head coach to win multiple NCAA titles.

McGraw was the 13th female coach inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. She had previously been inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014

Her legendary career included an impressive 936 career wins (ranks sixth all-time among Division I coaches), including 848 at Notre Dame. During the 2018-19 season, McGraw became the fourth-fastest coach to reach the 900-win milestone.

Coach McGraw led the Irish to seven NCAA title game appearances (2001, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019), including six in her last decade of coaching. Meanwhile, her nine Final Four appearances rank as the fifth most all-time. All-in-all, McGraw’s teams have qualified for 26 NCAA Tournaments, earning 67 tournament wins along the way.

A four-time National Coach of the Year winner and seven-time Conference Coach of the Year, McGraw won 25 total combined conference regular season and tournament championships. In addition, she has collected 174 wins against ranked opponents with 66 coming against top-10 teams.

McGraw is one of just five coaches in NCAA Division I history with over 930 wins, nine Final Fours and multiple NCAA championships — others are Summitt, Auriemma, VanDerveer and Duke men’s coach Mike Krzyzewski.

McGraw remains active in the South Bend community. Whether it’s organizing food drives throughout the area or teaching her Sports Leadership class in Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. In addition, she joined ACC Network as a basketball analyst.

Tom Mendoza
Retired Vice Chairman, NetApp Inc.

“Building a Vibrant Workplace Culture in Good Times and Bad”
Friday, September 13
11:00am – 12:00pm
Mendoza College of Business, Jordan Auditorium

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Joe Ucuzoglu
Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte

“A bigger impact: The promise of professional services in the 4th Industrial Revolution”
Friday, October 11
11:00am – 12:00pm
Mendoza College of Business, Jordan Auditorium

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Robert Jackson
Commissioner, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Friday, November 22
Time: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Mendoza College of Business, Jordan Auditorium