Executives in Residence guiding Business Buckeyes
By Vicki Christian
Fisher College of Business
Students entering business often are looking for guidance on how to navigate its ever-changing landscape. Hearing from professionals who have successfully launched careers and flourished in dynamic business environments can set students on a course for success.
In an effort to start those conversations and build those connections, Fisher has launched its Executives in Residence (EIR) program. Beginning this academic year, six established professionals will bring their perspectives and insights directly to Fisher’s students and programs. The initiative reflects the college’s commitment to fostering meaningful connections between business leaders and the academic community at Fisher.
“Some of the most powerful moments in a classroom happen when a student hears, ‘I’ve been in your shoes,’” said Aravind Chandrasekaran, interim dean and John W. Berry, Sr. Chair in Business. “Our Executives in Residence bring that kind of perspective to Fisher. They’ve navigated the decisions, successes and challenges that our students are preparing to face, and they’re willing to share those lessons openly.”
The six executives include:
- Michael Gade (BSBA ’74, MBA ’75), Senior Advisor to the Global Consumer Group, Boston Consulting Group
- Ciare L. James (MBA '07), Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Bob Evans Farms
- Tim Keenan (BSBA '80), CEO, Keenan & Associates
- John McEwan (BSBA '83), Retired, Managing Partner, Deloitte & Touche
- Gary Peterson, Consultant, Teacher, Executive Coach, Peterson Consulting Group
- Gary Price (BSBA '83), Chief Risk Officer, Battelle
“I hope the students learn some of the things that cannot be taught in a classroom that comes with 40-plus years of professional experience such as leading people through change and challenging situations, navigating grey space, principled leadership and the importance of building one’s network,” Price said.
Throughout the academic year, the EIRs will share practical insights, hard-earned lessons and perspectives on marketing, consulting, accounting, finance and entrepreneurship and how emerging technologies are reshaping the way organizations operate and lead. These interactions will give students a deeper understanding of how business works in practice, and how the theories they learn and skills they develop at Fisher reflect the many paths a business education can lead to.
“I learned throughout my career through senior mentors and real-world discussions with my superiors,” Keenan said. “Their willingness to give of their time and knowledge was invaluable in developing my career and body of experience. I hope to add this aspect of experiential learning to the Fisher students early in their journey and thereby accelerate their careers.”
EIR members will also have opportunities to present emerging industry and professional issues to faculty, advise and mentor student organizations, engage with corporate partners and alumni, participate in executive education programs and support the research and development of academic centers.
“These connections are incredibly valuable, not just for our students, but for all of us at Fisher as we think about how to keep business education relevant, engaging and connected to the students and the world around us,” said Chandrasekaran. “These leaders are deeply invested in Fisher and its students, helping ensure that the business education Fisher provides remains connected to a rapidly changing business environment.”
Meet the 2026 Executives in Residence
Michael Gade (BSBA ’74, MBA ’75)
Senior Advisor to the Global Consumer Group, Boston Consulting Group
Senior Advisor to the Global Consumer Group, Boston Consulting Group
Mike is an accomplished senior executive, advisor and educator in a career that spans international consulting, executive board membership and leadership at three Fortune 100 companies. Most recently, he has served as senior advisor to the Global Consumer Group at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), guiding its convenience and fuels sector and U.S. retail team.
A marketing, franchising and finance expert in the retail and fuel industries, Mike previously was a senior partner and chairman of Coopers & Lybrand’s retail and consumer practice (now PwC) and the chief marketing officer and senior vice president of merchandising at 7-Eleven, Inc. He spent more than 15 years on the board of directors at the Crane Group and currently sits on the boards of ARKO Corp., a Fortune 500 company, Imagine and Safe Security.
Mike’s dedication to mentoring and educating the next generation of business leaders is evident in his many years as a guest lecturer at institutions such as The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business and the University of North Texas. In retirement, he and his wife, Regina, volunteer their time with the U.S. Olympic Team. Mike teaches athletes about personal financial management, while Regina provides medical training.
Mike earned his bachelor’s degree in business and his MBA from Fisher.
Ciare L. James (MBA '07)
Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Bob Evans Farms
Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President, Bob Evans Farms
Ciare L. James is a dynamic consumer-packaged goods executive with 20 years of experience driving growth, innovation and transformation across leading organizations. She has proven success in managing billion-dollar portfolios, building winning teams and delivering breakthrough results through consumer-centric marketing and general management prowess.
Ciare is currently the chief marketing officer for Bob Evans Farms. Previously, she held leadership roles at Conagra Brands and Procter & Gamble, owning design, delivery and global initiatives for brands including Febreze, Gillette, Reddi-Wip and Banquet.
She is a proud wife, mother and active community member, serving on the Fisher Alumni Board and the United Schools Board of Trustees.
Tim Keenan (BSBA '80)
CEO, Keenan & Associates
CEO, Keenan & Associates
Timothy P. Keenan is an active entrepreneur who has been a principal in the building and selling of four businesses. He currently serves as CEO of Keenan & Associates, a strategic planning consulting firm focused on helping small and mid-sized businesses grow into the next level of maturity.
Tim previously served as president and chairman of the board of directors of High Performance Technologies, Inc. (HPTi). As president, he had overall strategic and operational responsibility for HPTi’s initiatives in developing systems technologies. As one of the original founders of HPTi, he helped to develop and grow HPTi into a dynamic firm known for its combination of creative design and disciplined execution. High Performance Technologies, Inc. (HPTi) (now a subsidiary of SAIC) provides high performance computing, system engineering, and health care bioinformatics to federal government customers including the Department of Defense, Intelligence Agencies, Department of Veterans Affairs and Justice Department.
Under Tim’s leadership, HPTi built the eighth fastest supercomputer in the world, was named one of the top 25 federal contractors by the Washington Business Journal, received the 2008 National Capital Business Ethics Award, the 2009 American Business Ethics Award and was honored with the United States Senate Productivity Quality Award Plaque of Excellence for 2006, 2007 and 2008 and the 2009 Medallion of Excellence in Quality. Additionally, HPTi has flourished to generate record financial results and was named a Top-Ten Growth Firm for 2007, 2008 and 2009 by the Private Company Index.
Tim has been an adjunct professor for George Mason University’s Executive MBA capstone, an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Georgetown University and an Entrepreneur in Residence for the McDonough School of Business. As part of this commitment to others, he serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council of The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business, the George Mason College of Science Advisory Council and the James Madison University Deans’ Council for the College of Business. He and his wife, Kathleen, have founded the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY and the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship at The Ohio State University.
Tim graduated with a BSBA from The Ohio State University and earned his MBA from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. He has received Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Ohio State's Professional Achievement Award, GovCon’s Executive of the Year, the American Business Award for Best Executive, Winning Workplace’s Best Boss Award and the Entrepreneurship Award from Fisher. In 2008, he was inducted into the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Alumni Hall of Fame.
John McEwan (BSBA '83)
Retired, Managing Partner, Deloitte & Touche
Retired, Managing Partner, Deloitte & Touche
John McEwan is a recognized business leader and Big 4 Partner with over 38 years of experience advising both emerging growth as well as Fortune 500 C-suite executives and audit committees. John has a successful track record of developing and effectively executing transformational business changes including mergers and acquisitions, digital and technology changes and C-suite and board alignment.
John has a broad set of industry experiences, with deep expertise in the financial services and commercial and industrial industries. He is qualified to serve as a financial expert on an audit committee and brings a strong background in corporate governance. John retired as the managing partner of the Central Ohio market at Deloitte. He was responsible for the firm’s growth, quality, strategy, client satisfaction and talent initiatives of the firm’s business. Under his leadership, the office revenues more than doubled by expanding the firm’s market penetration and established a consulting presence addressing critical needs in technology, human capital, financial transformations and cybersecurity.
For over three decades John served as the lead client service partner, audit partner and advisory partner for a diversified portfolio of Deloitte’s most significant clients in the financial services, commercial and industrial, consumer products and retail industries.
John held numerous leadership roles at Deloitte including the global leader for the Deloitte CFO Forum Program, Regional Insurance Practice Leader, Deloitte Board Advisory Council and Central Region Executive Committee. As the Global CFO Forum’s leader, John was responsible for CFO Forums by developing and coordinating curriculum for CFOs from the world’s largest companies.
As a leader in Deloitte’s Center for Board Effectiveness, he was an executive sponsor for numerous client programs addressing key issues and leading practices for corporate boards. John was a leader in diversity and inclusion efforts, including establishing the diversity and inclusion council that supports over 400 professionals in the Columbus office and initiating the Board-Ready Women program designed to help prepare women leaders for board memberships.
John has a strong reputation in the business and civic community. He has served as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, The Ohio Business Roundtable, The Columbus Partnership, and Fisher’s Dean’s Advisory Council at The Ohio State University.
John currently serves as senior advisor for ArkMalibu an investment banking firm and advises several private entities. John has also been an active supporter of many nonprofit organizations including United Way, Leukemia society of America and The American Heart Association.
John graduated from The Ohio State University with a BSBA in accounting and has completed executive programs at Columbia Business School and Kellogg Graduate School of Management. John is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the AICPA and the Ohio Society of CPAs.
Gary Peterson
Consultant, Teacher, Executive Coach, Peterson Consulting Group
Consultant, Teacher, Executive Coach, Peterson Consulting Group
With decades of experience, Gary Peterson, a recipient of the 1999 Shingo Prize, demonstrates that respect for people is the ultimate competitive advantage. As executive vice president of supply chain and production at O.C. Tanner, Gary led the transformation that delivered an 800 percent productivity increase and created one of the most studied and sustained Continuous Improvement Cultures worldwide.
With his deep experience, Gary is just as comfortable advising executives on strategy and cultural transformation, guiding operational leaders in system design and engaging front line teams to drive performance. As a consultant, his clients benefit from his combination of global thought leadership and practical experience in hitting daily production numbers.
He served on the Shingo Institute’s Executive Advisory Board for more than a decade, is an active Shingo examiner evaluating prize applicants worldwide and is an inducted member of the prestigious Shingo Academy.
His specialties include embedding Shingo-aligned behaviors that last, Leader Standard Work, Strategy Deployment (Hoshin Kanri), cultural transformation and turning respect for people into measurable business performance.
Gary Price (BSBA '83)
Chief Risk Officer, Battelle
Chief Risk Officer, Battelle
Gary Price was appointed chief risk officer of Battelle in October 2021. Battelle is the world’s largest private research institution, with a focus on scientific and technical advances in chemistry, biology and advanced materials. Gary leads Battelle’s Enterprise Risk Management process, along with providing oversight and experience in the area of risk related to major company initiatives, business pursuits and complex transactions. He also served as Battelle’s interim chief information officer from April 2022-October 2022, leading over 100 IT professionals supporting the business.
Prior to joining Battelle, Gary was most recently PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) U.S. partner affairs leader and chief administrative officer. In this capacity, he was responsible for all partner-related matters. As a member of the U.S. leadership team, his responsibilities also included executing firm strategy and aiding in the firm’s digital transformation. From 2007-2014, he was PwC’s Southeast region managing partner (based in Atlanta). Under his leadership, the region experienced 50 percent growth in revenue and a significant increase in partners and staff.
Gary joined PwC in 1983 and spent his career advising clients in both the firm’s assurance and advisory practices and has advised clients from across many industries and sectors, including transportation, manufacturing, retail and consumer, financial services and energy and utilities.
He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. He received his undergraduate degree in 1983 from The Ohio State University.
Gary and his wife Mary Ellen have four adult children and they reside in Columbus, Ohio.
“These leaders are deeply invested in Fisher and its students, helping ensure that the business education Fisher provides remains connected to a rapidly changing business environment.”