HIGH POINT, N.C., Oct. 1, 2014 – Three prominent business leaders will serve as panelists for a CEO Q&A moderated by Dr. Nido Qubein, High Point University president. The event will be held at 4:45 p.m. on Oct. 15 in the Pauline Theatre of Hayworth Fine Arts Center. A limited number of complimentary tickets are available for the general public by contacting 336-841-9209 or [email protected], or by registering online at www.highpoint.edu/community/ceopanel.
The informative and thought-provoking discussion will feature some of North Carolina’s top CEOs, including David King with LabCorp, N.C. Secretary of Commerce Sharon Decker and Dave Phillips with Phillips Industries Inc. The program will be included in an upcoming issue of Business North Carolina magazine and on a future UNC-TV broadcast.
About the panelists:
David King is chairman and chief executive officer of one of the world’s largest clinical lab providers. Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp), based out of Burlington, operates a sophisticated laboratory network with more than 34,000 employees and 220,000 clients, including physician offices, hospitals, managed care organizations and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to joining LabCorp as senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer in 2001, he was a partner with Hogan & Hartson L.L.P. (now Hogan Lovells) in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1992 to 2001. King is on the board of Cardinal Health Inc., a Fortune 20 healthcare company, and PATH, an international, nonprofit global health organization. He is a member of the board of the American Clinical Laboratory Association and served as its chair from 2010 to 2014. King also serves on the Board of Directors of the Seattle Science Foundation.
Sharon Decker, appointed Secretary of Commerce by Gov. Pat McCrory in January 2013, has more than 30 years of experience in business and commerce. After graduating summa cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Decker spent more than 17 years with Duke Power (now Duke Energy), where she became the youngest and first female vice president in the company’s history. Decker left Duke Power as chief communications officer to become the founding president of The Lynnwood Foundation to restore Duke Mansion in Charlotte and to begin the William States Lee Leadership Institute. She has also served as chair of the Charlotte Chamber, president of the Doncaster division of Tanner Companies, and she created and served as CEO of the nonprofit Tapestry Group. Decker has served on the boards of three Fortune 500 companies.
Dave Phillips was born and raised in High Point. He was the founding chairman of Phillips Textile Mills and Phillips Factors, and he was a partner in Market Square Showroom Properties. These companies were sold to three different companies on the New York Stock Exchange in the late 1990s. He served as N.C. Secretary of Commerce, chairman of the North Carolina Economic Development Board and was a member of the North Carolina Board of Transportation. He also served on the board of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and presently is serving on the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 2007, President George W. Bush appointed him as U.S. Ambassador to Estonia.
Dr. Nido Qubein, president of HPU, who will serve as moderator, is an internationally sought-after speaker who has led the university to unprecedented growth, including tripling undergraduate enrollment and the establishment of four new academic schools on campus. Prior to accepting the role as the seventh president of HPU, he served as chairman of a consulting firm. His business experience led him to help grow a bank in 1986, and today he serves on the board and the executive committee of BB&T. He is also chairman of Great Harvest Bread Company with 218 stores in 42 states and serves on the board of La-Z-Boy Corporation and Dots LLC. Dr. Qubein has written a dozen books and recorded scores of audio and video learning programs.
HPU regularly brings prominent business leaders to campus through the Community Enrichment Series. Past roundtable discussions have included Gov. Pat McCrory; Richard Childress, racing CEO and businessman; Kelly King, BB&T Corporation chairman and CEO; Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, CEO and owner of Pace Communications; and Ric Elias, CEO and co-founder of Red Ventures, among others.
Event attendees are encouraged to enter campus through the welcome center at the intersection of Montlieu Avenue and North College Drive. Public parking and shuttles will be available in the lot across from the Hayworth Fine Arts Center.