University of South Florida welcomes new President’s Global Leadership Council

By Dan Caterinicchia, University Communications and Marketing

The University of South Florida 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's Global Leadership Council is being chaired by Steve Presley '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.

"In our pursuit of excellence and commitment to providing a world-class educational experience at the University of South Florida, 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's 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's global footprint."

Members will be encouraged to provide strategic advice and counsel to USF leadership through roundtables, corporate partnerships, networking and events. "My experiences at USF contributed significantly to many of my professional accomplishments," Presley said. "It 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."

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. "Tony" Giarratana, '80, Finance, President of Giarratana, LLC
• John Robert Bailey, '83, Finance, Owner and CEO of Virginia Dare Jamaica Ltd.
• François Bertrand Rioux, '84, Accounting and Chemistry, President of Rioux
• Salim Bitar, '85, Finance, Group chief financial officer at Abu Dhabi Capital Group
• Abdalla Hashim BaniHammad, '87 & MS '88, Electrical Engineering, Former CEO of Etisalat Services Holding, a wholly owned subsidiary of Etisalat Group
• Aris Bogdaneris, '87, International Relations, Group head of Canadian Banking for Scotiabank
• Walid Abukhaled, '89, Industrial Engineering, CEO of Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI)
• Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Al-Shehhi, '90, Electrical Engineering, Former undersecretary of economic affairs for United Arab Emirates and chairman and founder of Euromercato
• Kimberly Ross, '92, Accounting, Board member of Nestlé SA, KKR and Co., and Cigna Corp., among others and former CFO of WeWork
• Meshal Abdul Aziz Al-Othman, '96, Marketing, CEO and co-founder of Capital Asset Management
• Gayle Sheppard, '00, Accounting, Corporate director for Nutanix, and a corporate global director for AstroScale
• Turki Al Shehri, '02, Electrical Engineering, Group vice president for ENGIE's Key Client Office
• John Fieldly, '04, Accounting, Chairman and CEO of Celsius Holdings Inc.