Sports and leadership: Mendoza panel discussion to feature Muffet McGraw, Ruth Riley

Lessons in Leadership: From the Locker Room to the Boardroom

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A Leadership Discussion with:  

Muffet McGraw (Head Coach, ND Women’s Basketball)
Cathy Engelbert (CEO, Deloitte LLP)
Ruth Riley (WNBA, Community Leader)
Moderated by: Anne Thompson (NBC News)

The University of Notre Dame Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Women’s Basketball Coach Muffet McGraw joins two former players, Cathy Engelbert and Ruth Riley, for a panel discussion “Lessons in Leadership: From the Locker Room to the Boardroom,” 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 16 in the Mendoza College of Business’ Jordan Auditorium. Anne Thompson (ND ‘79), NBC News chief environmental affairs correspondent, will serve as moderator.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will center on how personal habits such as a commitment to excellence and teaming with others can help build leadership skills that translate into success in all areas of life. Panelists will present the perspectives and experiences that have guided them to successful leadership. The discussion will provide audience members with the opportunity to ask questions as well.

Each participant has a well-established track record as a successful athlete and leader:

McGraw, the Karen and Kevin Keyes Family Head Women’s Basketball Coach, is entering her 29th season as head women’s basketball coach at Notre Dame and her 34th season overall. She is the only NCAA Division I coach ever to be named a consensus National Coach of the Year three times (2001, 2013, 2014).

Engelbert, who played at Lehigh University under McGraw’s coaching and helped the school to the 1986 East Coast Conference championship, is now the CEO of Deloitte LLP and was named to Fortune’s 2015 list of “Most Powerful Women.” Engelbert leads the largest professional services organization in the US and is responsible for 70,000 professionals in nearly 90 US cities and India. Since 1986, she has had a distinguished career serving large and complex global clients. Engelbert previously served as chairman and chief executive officer of Deloitte’s audit subsidiary.

Riley retired from the Women’s National Basketball Association in 2014 and is one of nine women in history to earn an NCAA title (2001 as a co-captain at Notre Dame), a WNBA title (2003 and 2006 in Detroit) and an Olympic gold medal (2004 with Team USA in Athens, Greece). Riley, who is enrolled in her second year of the Executive MBA program in the Mendoza College of Business, currently serves in a leadership role for a number of social ventures, including No Kid Hungry and Inspire Transformation, a social organization in South Africa. She also serves as an ambassador with NBA and WNBA Cares, the community service arms for both professional basketball leagues.

Thompson has worked as a journalist for more than 35 years, and currently reports for all of NBC’s major platforms, “NBC Nightly News,” “Today,” MSNBC and NBCNews.com. Her coverage has focused on major environmental issues, as well as the Catholic Church, including extensive reporting on Pope Francis’ recent trip to the U.S.

The Mendoza College of Business is sponsoring the event with Deloitte, who worked with Notre Dame to establish the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership. 

“Deloitte continues to be a key supporter in helping Mendoza College students to ‘Ask More of Business,’ and to seek opportunities that will serve the greater good,” said Roger Huang, Martin J. Gillen Dean of the Mendoza College of Business. “It is a privilege to be associated with an organization that shares our core value of ethics-based leadership in the business world.”

For more information about the event, “Lessons in Leadership: From the Locker Room to the Boardroom,” contact Carol Elliott, associate director of executive communication, at celliot1@nd.edu or (574) 631-2627.

About Mendoza College of Business

The Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame enrolls more than 2,000 undergraduate students in five majors: accountancy, finance, marketing, management consulting, management entrepreneurship and IT management. The College offers seven graduate degree programs – the Notre Dame MBA, Executive MBA, Master of Science in Accountancy, Master of Science in Management, Master of Science in Finance, Master of Science in Business Analytics and the Master of Nonprofit Administration – as well as non-degree executive education and nonprofit professional development programs.

About Deloitte

Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world’s most admired brands, including 80 percent of the Fortune 500. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to make their most challenging business decisions with confidence, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society.

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