UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Brian T. Olsavsky, chief financial officer and senior vice president at Amazon, will share his perspectives on business innovation and leadership with the Penn State Smeal College of Business on Friday, Sept. 8. His visit is part of Smeal’s Executive Insights series.
Olsavsky will take part in a moderated discussion with Charles H. Whiteman, John and Becky Surma Dean of Smeal, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. in the Business Building Atrium. The event will also be streamed on Facebook Live from the Smeal Facebook page.
Olsavsky’s visit is the first Executive Insights session this fall. Jes Staley, group CEO of Barclays, is scheduled to visit the college on Sept. 15.
After earning a mechanical engineering degree from Penn State in 1985, Olsavsky then completed an MBA at Carnegie Mellon. He started at Amazon in 2002 as vice president of finance for worldwide operations and assumed his current role in 2105. Prior to Amazon, Olsavsky worked as vice president of finance for Fisher Scientific.
Executive Insights is designed to complement the Smeal educational experience by bringing high-profile business leaders to the college to connect with students, faculty, staff and administrators. Past guests include leaders from organizations such as Archer Daniels Midland, BASF, Boeing, Credit Suisse, Dell, Deloitte, Dick’s Sporting Goods, EY, GE, Johnson & Johnson, Kohl’s, KPMG, Macy’s, National Retail Federation, Nestlé, Oracle, Procter & Gamble, PwC, Samsung, Siemens, Verizon, Tumi Holdings, Inc., and Urban Outfitters.