Kelley alumni awards

Tom retired from a 37-year career on Wall Street in mid-2021. He currently serves as managing partner and founder of the consulting and advisory firm Narrowgate Partners. He is an author and will be publishing his book, The Narrow Gate, in the fall of 2023.

Tom spent the last eleven years of his career in investment banking at Citibank as co-head of the leveraged finance business for the US and Canada. He was responsible for managing the origination, approval, and distribution of leveraged loans and high yield bond financing for large corporate issuers. He led the recruiting of analysts for all businesses within Citi Capital Markets; liaised with US regulators from the Fed, FDIC and OCC; and served on the Capital Commitments Committee and the Investment Banking US Operating Committee.

Prior to Citi he spent two and a half years at HSBC, where he grew their leveraged finance business and was promoted to co-head of their commercial and investment banking business for the Americas. In this capacity, he oversaw the firm’s origination and product groups, including M&A and public and private equity and debt.

Before his time at HSBC, Tom had a 20-year career with Deutsche Bank in investment banking, primarily in client service and origination and then as head of the chemical industry group. He also spent two years in London in a risk management role, approving all transactions in the UK and Europe for corporate clients as well as distressed debt trading. He started the US Leveraged Finance group in 2001, which he led until his departure at the end of 2007. Leading up to DB, Tom spent three years at Continental Bank as an associate and two years at General Electric in their financial management program.

He is on the boards of The New Canaan Society, Faith in Financial Services, The Center for Being Known, and the New York City Salvation Army. He is also an advisor for the DRM Foundation. 

Tom has an MBA in accounting and finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BS from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. While at IU, he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and an award-winning captain of the men’s swimming team. In 2012, the I Association awarded Tom the Z.G. Clevenger Award, which is given to alumni who have made outstanding contributions through service to IU’s athletic program. In 2020, Tom was awarded IU’s Bicentennial Award for his personal and professional efforts to broaden the reach of IU. Tom has served on the Dean’s Council of Kelley for over fifteen years. The Cole family has funded scholarships for Kelley and the men’s swimming team. Tom is married to Kim, and they have three children and four grandchildren.

Dr. Mahomed is a cardiothoracic surgeon who owes his success to Indiana University. He left his home in South Africa to pursue his passion for medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland, and he received his Doctor of Medicine degree in 1970. He then completed an internship at the University of Western Ontario and went to the University of Michigan St. Joseph hospital for his surgical residency. Dr. Mahomed continued his training with a residency in plastic surgery and a fellowship in surgical oncology at Case Western Reserve University. He recognized that the specialty of cardiothoracic surgery provided him the best platform for innovation, scientific advancement, and patient care that are the hallmarks of a world-class surgeon. He began his journey of medical leadership and entrepreneurial drive at IU in 1979 as a cardiothoracic surgical resident. After graduating from IU in 1981, he was invited to join the Indiana University School of Medicine faculty and has been an active faculty member, researcher, and industry consultant for over four decades. In 2014, he was honored with the title of professor emeritus of surgery. 

Dr. Mahomed has been a leading change agent in the field of cardiothoracic surgery, always searching for ways to improve patient care. He has authored peer-reviewed journal articles, brought a Physician MBA’s perspective to numerous hospital initiatives, provided innumerable industry consultations, and participated in leading cardiac surgery societies. He has educated over 100 cardiothoracic surgeons during his tenure, who are now serving patients across the United States and abroad. His passion for the highest level of patient care was instilled into each surgeon he taught. In Indiana alone, his dedication to surgical excellence has improved and extended the lives of thousands of Hoosiers. For this, in 2016 he was awarded Indiana’s highest civilian honor—the Sagamore of the Wabash—by then Governor Mike Pence.

Dr. Mahomed has been deeply involved with Indiana University. He graduated from the inaugural class of Kelley Physician MBAs and has contributed extensively to the Dean’s Council. There, he sits on the Executive Committee and is chair of the Business of Healthcare Committee. As a member of the Kelley Dean’s Council, his contributions facilitated the introduction of a business scholarly concentration program, and he reinvigorated the MD/MBA program at the IU School of Medicine. Dr. Mahomed also orchestrated a partnership between Kelley and the American Association of Physician Leadership.

In 1997, Dr. Mahomed founded MSW, LLC, a successful supply chain integration company of which he serves as CEO. This $100 million company serves customers such as Cummins, Eaton, and Harley Davidson. MSW has received numerous accolades and awards for advancement, contributions, and efficiency management in the supply chain industry.

Dr. Yousuf Mahomed has contributed significantly as a surgeon to advance healthcare, as a business leader to improve efficiency, and as a visionary to Indiana to impart the wisdom of his journey. He is a humble man, an outstanding colleague and friend, a loving husband and father, and an incredibly proud grandfather.

Deidra (Dee) Merriwether is the senior vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) of W.W. Grainger, Inc., a $15.2 billion leading broadline distributor with operations primarily in North America, Japan, and the United Kingdom (UK). She oversees the company's financial activities, including controllership, treasury, financial analysis, investor relations, internal audit, tax, and financial operations. She is also responsible for Grainger’s corporate strategy, analytics, real estate, and operations in the UK under the Cromwell brand.

Before becoming CFO in 2021, Dee served as senior vice president and president of North American Sales and Services. She was responsible for sales, inventory management solutions, and customer engagement strategies in Canada, Latin America, and the United States. She also served as senior vice president of Direct Sales and Strategic Initiatives, leading the US sales team, pricing strategy, and gross margin optimization. In 2017, Dee developed and launched Grainger’s new pricing strategy, reinvigorating the company’s relationships with large and medium customers. Dee joined Grainger in 2013 as vice president of Finance, Americas, leading financial planning and analysis for Canada, Latin America, and the United States.

Dee is an accomplished leader with more than two decades of broad management, operations, and financial experience. She started her career as an engineer and production leader at Eli Lilly and gained valuable finance and M&A experience at Isiah Investments and PricewaterhouseCoopers. She held both general management and financial roles of increasing responsibility at Sears Holdings, departing as chief operating officer in 2013. Over her career, she has been known for delivering customer results and consistent top quartile performance.

Dee earned an MBA in finance and operations management from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University. While at Indiana University, she was a member of the Kelley School Dean’s Council and the Women’s MBA Advisory Board. She is also a graduate of the Executive Accounting Program at the University of Texas, a fellow of the CEO Perspectives at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, and she attended the CFO Leadership program at Harvard Business School.

She previously served as the chair of the finance and investment committee for the March of Dimes. Currently, she is a member of the Weyerhaeuser Board of Directors, the world’s largest timberland operator. She supports her passions for children’s health and leadership development as a member of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital Board, Women Corporate Directors, and The Chicago Network. She shares her experience and knowledge as a speaker for both student and alumni events at Indiana University and North Carolina A&T State University and across numerous other industrial, financial, and supply chain organizations.

Michelle Wu is chief digital data technology officer at Brenntag SE, based in Germany. Michelle leads global technical functions and is responsible for deploying Brenntag’s digital business enterprise architecture and strengthening core foundation while enabling Brenntag to be a frontrunner in digital and data to connect supply partners and customers.

Prior to joining Brenntag, Michelle was the executive director and chief information officer at Ingram Micro Inc. for APAC, based in Singapore, where she made an impact driving customer experience through B2B/2C and go-to-market capabilities.  Michelle also held various leadership roles in her 19 years at General Electric Company, where she supported businesses to achieve growth objectives, productivity, performance improvements, and operational efficiency. 

Michelle earned a BS in computer information systems and business process management from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and an MBA in finance and marketing from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business.  Michelle is a certified professional coach with International Coach Federation ACC credentials and is a certified 200-hour yoga instructor. 

Greg is the Managing Partner of OSG consulting. He provides board, strategic advisory, and investment services to commercial companies whose capabilities can rapidly accelerate the adoption of the latest technologies for US government military and intelligence missions. Greg has a proven track record of leading high-growth businesses from inception through exit in the artificial intelligence/machine learning, cybersecurity, and information technology markets. He has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in capital from a variety of venture, private equity, and debt sources, and he has been instrumental in various government initiatives.  

Prior to joining Arturo, he served as chairman and/or CEO of multiple companies, including Narus, Fixmo, Risksense, and Wireless Online. In addition, he led the commercial efforts in standing up both the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) in Silicon Valley and the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) at the Pentagon. He currently serves on the board of directors of the National Cyber Security Center and Axonius Federal Systems, as well as multiple advisory boards. Greg received his MBA from Northwestern’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and his Bachelor of Science from Indiana University.

Derek Hicks is the chief business officer for Intellia, a leading clinical-stage genome editing company developing novel, potentially curative therapeutics leveraging CRISPR-based technologies.

Derek brings more than 25 years of combined business leadership and biotechnology experience to Intellia. As chief business officer at Intellia, Derek is responsible for overall corporate strategy, portfolio planning, and developing new business and strategic partnerships.

Prior to Intellia, Derek served as head of business development at Spark Therapeutics. While at Spark, he was responsible for business development strategy, search and evaluation, licensing, and key partnership activities. Before this role, Derek spent 18 years at Pfizer in a variety of business and corporate development roles culminating with his position as vice president of Corporate Development, World-Wide Business Development.

Derek holds his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.