Olin to honor outstanding alumni at March 27 event

WashU Olin will proudly honor seven alumni at a dinner and awards ceremony on Thursday, March 27 at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Bayer Event Center. Honorees will receive awards in three categories.

Dean’s Medal: The Dean’s Medal, started in 1993, is a tradition that honors friends of Olin who have contributed valuable time, service, and dedication to the school.

Distinguished Alumni: The Distinguished Alumni Award, now in its 38th year, recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding alumni who have become leaders in their community and have attained distinction in their careers. Those who are honored embody the core values of vision, innovation, and leadership and have each made a positive impact on business and the communities in which they live and serve.

Emerging Leaders: This award was first bestowed in 2015 to honor alumni who exemplify leadership, innovative thinking, and vision. Olin recognizes Emerging Leaders for their service to Olin, thought leadership, business acumen, and impact on their organizations and beyond.

Please join the celebration. Register here.

Dean’s Medalist

Lynn Gorguze, PMBA 1986

Lynn Gorguze is chair and CEO of Cameron Holdings, which she co-founded in 1993.

Cameron, a family office investor with offices in San Diego and St. Louis, acquires and operates privately held middle-market manufacturing and service companies. Cameron has a long-term investment horizon, and its principals and senior executives have extensive operating backgrounds with middle-market manufacturing companies.

Cameron has made more than 50 acquisitions with an aggregate transaction value in excess of $1 billion. Gorguze, however, is most proud of Cameron’s equity participation program for operating company employees.

Before founding Cameron, she spent more than seven years in investment banking.

Gorguze enjoys serving on nonprofit boards. Among boards she currently serves on are: The La Jolla Playhouse, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, and WashU Olin’s National Council.

Along with her MBA from WashU, Gorguze has an undergraduate degree in geology and oceanography from Duke University. In 2006, she received Olin’s Distinguished Business Alumni Award, and, in 2017, she received WashU’s Outstanding Alumni Award.

She has been married to Scott Peters for more than 35 years. He is serving his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives for the 50th District of California. They have two adult children who were born and raised in San Diego, and who now work at Cameron Holdings.

Distinguished Alumni

Robert Lowenthal, BSBA 1998

Robert Lowenthal is president of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. and the firm’s broker-dealer Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. As president, he is dedicated to driving the firm’s growth by investing in digital transformation, attracting top talent, and developing new revenue streams that align with demographic trends and emerging innovations in the capital markets.

He has been a member of the firm’s board of directors since May 2013 and provides strategic, financial reporting, enterprise, and operational risk management perspectives given his longstanding experience and direct connection to the businesses. He chairs the executive management committee and co-chairs the risk management committee.

In addition, Lowenthal serves as head of investment banking, where he leads the division responsible for delivering capital raising and advisory services to privately held and publicly traded companies, investment funds, and government entities. He joined the firm in 1999 and subsequently became head of the company’s taxable fixed income business in 2007. In 2012, he assumed responsibility for all global fixed income capabilities of the firm, including oversight of the company’s public finance and municipal sales and trading departments.

Beyond Oppenheimer, Lowenthal serves on various boards, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In addition to his BSBA from WashU, he holds an MBA from Columbia University.

He lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters.

Alaina Macía, MBA 2002

As the president and CEO of Medical Transportation Management Inc., one of the St. Louis area’s largest woman-owned and privately held businesses, Alaina Macía is passionate about leading change in the healthcare and transit industries. Her vision for MTM is ensuring that community services — including healthcare, job access, and social services — are accessible without barriers for all, particularly people in need. Since 2005, she has overseen MTM’s growth from $30 million in annual revenue to $1.75 billion. Today, its staff of more than 4,000 employees provides more than 33.6 million trips per year in 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to MTM’s website, as well as other related services.

Macía is leading the transportation industry to focus on a sustainable future with a reduction in climate impact. She is involved in the St. Louis community, serving as a trustee for WashU, the chair of the university’s Institute of Public Health National Council, a member of the St. Louis Chapter of YPO (Young Presidents Council), the chair of the St. Louis Regional Business Council, and she serves on several boards.

She has received numerous honors, including being named one of 2012’s Most Influential Businesswomen by the St. Louis Business Journal. In 2014, Ernst and Young named her Entrepreneur of the Year in the Midwest region’s healthcare services category. In 2023, she was named to St. Louis Magazine’s list of Women Who Make St. Louis Great.

In addition to her MBA, she holds an undergraduate degree in biological engineering sciences from WashU. Alaina is married to Daniel Maciá, and they have two teenage daughters. She is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys golf, triathlons, hiking, and rock climbing.

Aaron Powell, BSBA 1993

Aaron Powell is CEO of Pizza Hut Global, reporting directly to the Yum! Brands CEO. He is responsible for leading the brand’s global growth strategy and franchise operations while driving performance across the division.

Since joining Pizza Hut in 2021, Powell has spearheaded the brand’s modernization journey with an emphasis on connecting people through the joy of pizza. This includes driving growth in the development pipeline, modernizing the asset base, and expanding the brand’s focus to include everyday dining occasions. Leveraging Yum!’s global scale, Powell has championed Pizza Hut’s implementation of key digital and technology initiatives that aim to elevate the customer experience.

Before joining Yum!, Powell spent more than 14 years at Kimberly-Clark serving in a variety of global leadership roles, including president of Kimberly-Clark Asia-Pacific. While there, he focused on business-to-business and consumer operations, leveraging his extensive experience in corporate strategy, M&A, sales, marketing, e-commerce, and operations.

In addition to his BSBA from WashU Olin, Powell holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves on the board of directors for Sherwin-Williams.

Emerging Leaders

Clay Canfield, BSBA 2023

Clay Canfield, BSBA 2023, is the founder of Sobriety Hub Software, a purpose-built platform designed to help recovery homes streamline operations and improve outcomes for residents.

With a deep understanding of the challenges faced by sober living operators, Canfield has dedicated his career to providing user-friendly software solutions tailored to manage resident intake, payments, progress tracking, and house operations.

He works closely with recovery house operators to address their unique needs, ensuring they have the tools to focus on their core mission: supporting individuals on their path to sobriety.

Under Canfield’s leadership, Sobriety Hub has become a trusted partner for recovery homes nationwide, combining technology with compassion to empower recovery communities.

Chris Hoffmann, MBA 2016, MLS 2018

Chris Hoffmann serves as the CEO at HB Solutions Group, which operates a family of service companies to include Hoffmann Brothers, Ferguson Roofing, and Blue Sky. Prior to joining HB Solutions Group, he served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, leaving active duty in 2014. 

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Saint Louis University, an MBA from Olin, and a Master of Legal Studies from WashU Law. Hoffmann is a member of the Young Presidents Organization and the Tugboat Institute, and he serves on the board of directors of Nexstar Network. 

He lives in St. Louis with his wife, Teresa, and three children.

Cambrie Nelson, MBA 2017

Cambrie Nelson is the director and chief of staff of the Gender Equality Division at the Gates Foundation, overseeing the division’s business operations, cross-division strategy, and leadership engagement. She serves as a trusted advisor to the division’s president and executive team and supports the division’s culture and overall effectiveness. She also promotes collaboration and progress across the foundation to advance the division’s goals.

Nelson joined the foundation in 2021 and was a key collaborator in the design and launch of the division. She served as its first deputy director of strategy, planning, and management, leading strategy and business operations.

Earlier, she was an executive at the management consulting firm Accenture, where she focused on building and expanding the health, public sector, and international development practices.