Kelley alumni awards

Jeffrey Harrison learned his leadership lessons from his dad: build a strong foundation and serve the community. Raised in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Harrison got his first job at age 12 working as a hod carrier alongside his bricklayer father, mixing mortar by hand. That experience, paired with playing basketball through high school and starting 72 games at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, instilled in him the value of hard work, a team-first mentality, and effective time management skills.

After earning his electrical engineering degree from Rose-Hulman in 1989, Harrison began his career at Indianapolis Power & Light Company. Recognizing that technical knowledge alone wasn’t enough to navigate the broader business world, he enrolled in the Evening MBA Program at the Kelley School in Indianapolis to augment his engineering background with essential financial and strategic skills. He earned his MBA in 1996.

In 2003, Harrison joined Citizens Energy Group as director of market development. He steadily advanced through executive roles—including vice president, senior vice president, and executive vice president and chief operating officer—before being named president and chief executive officer in 2015.

As the head of a complex public charitable trust, Harrison leads more than 1,300 employees, overseeing Indiana's largest water and wastewater utilities, the state's third-largest natural gas system, the city’s steam system (second in size only to New York City’s system), and a thermal chilled water business.

Under his direction, Citizens completed a historic 14-year, $2.4 billion Dig Indy tunnel project—delivering it on time and $400,000 under budget—resulting in a much cleaner White River.

As a way of paying it forward to honor the people who supported his education and leadership journey, Harrison remains committed to guiding the next generation and giving back. He is a trusted advisor to Kelley leaders in Indianapolis and an alumnus of and champion for the Tobias Fellows Program. Under his direction, Citizens Energy Group annually sponsors a professional participant in the program, demonstrating both personal and organizational commitment to cultivating ethical, effective leaders in Indiana.

Harrison also serves as chairman of the board of directors for the Indy Chamber. He lends his time to numerous civic boards, including United Way of Central Indiana, Center for Leadership Development, Goodwill, Indiana Sports Corp, Indianapolis Zoo, and the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees, while actively mentoring youth through organizations such as Junior Achievement.

A native Hoosier, David Ricks earned an undergraduate degree in industrial management from Purdue University and then came to the Kelley School of Business in 1994 to build on his early tech experience at IBM and evaluate his career trajectory.

Upon receiving an MBA in 1996 from Kelley with concentrations in finance and marketing, Ricks joined Eli Lilly and Company. Expecting only a short stay, he quickly fell in love with the company's purpose and culture. Dave advanced through leadership roles over the next three decades, serving as general manager in Canada, president of operations in China, and president of Lilly Bio-Medicines.

Since becoming chief executive officer and board chair in 2017, Ricks has transformed Lilly into the world’s most valuable pharmaceutical company, surpassing a market valuation of $1 trillion and revenues of $65 billion in 2025.

Recognized as CEO of the Year by his peers, Ricks has led Lilly through major scientific and operational milestones. These include scaling global production of revolutionary GLP-1 therapies Mounjaro and Zepbound and advancing Kisunla, a landmark treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

Guided by the belief that progress requires challenging the status quo, Ricks embeds speed, scientific curiosity, and heart into Lilly’s 150-year-old heritage, directing sustained large-scale investment into global research and development to alleviate human suffering. This includes his commitment to health, education, and community.

In December 2025, Lilly signed a $40 million agreement with IU to create a best-in-class system for clinical trial innovation, strengthen Alzheimer's clinical care, and nurture the next generation of scientific talent for Indiana's life sciences sector. He also serves on the executive committee and board of Central Indiana Corporate Partnership and on the Board of Trustees for Purdue University, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in pharmaceutical management.

Ricks also sits on the boards of Adobe and Business Roundtable and as life governor and chair emeritus for the Riley Children’s Foundation Board of Governors.

Jack Haldrup’s entrepreneurial spirit was born from a spark of inspiration from his father, who started an internet service provider company when Jack was a teenager. Fascinated by the idea of creating something from scratch as well as technology and business, Haldrup set his sights on attending the Kelley School of Business. He earned direct admission and came to Bloomington after graduating from Carmel High School in 2005.

Haldrup received his undergraduate degree in finance in 2009 and went on to complete the Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) program in 2010. His time at Kelley provided both a well-rounded business foundation and eye-opening experiences, including a trip with members of his honors cohort to India—his first time traveling abroad—which expanded his sense of possibility.

The MSIS program proved foundational, teaching him how to solve real-world business problems in collaborative team environments at the intersection of business and technology.After graduation, Haldrup launched his career in technology consulting at Crowe, and later worked in e-commerce software development in New York.

Haldrup has psoriasis, so his search for non-irritating products led him to discover natural cold-process soap at local farmers markets. Recognizing an overlooked market—men who were not seeking high-quality natural products—he gave himself 90 days to take a product to market. Still employed full-time at his consulting job, he worked nights and weekends to launch his company. He asked his sister to help with package design and found a manufacturer in Indiana to make the first batch. Relying on his technology  expertise, he chose an e-commerce-first strategy and founded Dr. Squatch in 2012.

The early days required resilience. Haldrup bootstrapped the company for years while balancing full-time employment, personally packing and shipping orders on weekends. At a critical moment when he considered quitting, his mother stepped in, running shipping operations out of his childhood bedroom. Supported by his family and fellow IU alumni in Chicago, Haldrup persevered.

By building a fun brand and leveraging funny video marketing and social media advertising, Dr. Squatch went viral, growing into a household name that eventually aired a Super Bowl commercial. After bringing on venture capital partners and scaling the business to hundreds of millions in sales, Haldrup guided the company through a majority private equity sale before Dr. Squatch was acquired by Unilever for $1.5 billion in 2025.

Today, based in San Diego, Haldrup serves on the board of Brick, a company led by fellow Kelley alum Nathan Baldwin, BS’12, that makes a device that blocks distracting apps on your phone, and advises entrepreneurs who hope to follow in the (very large) footsteps of Dr. Squatch.

Holly R. McKenzie’s journey at Indiana University began when she looked 45 miles south from her hometown of Indianapolis to find one of the top accounting programs in the nation. She graduated from Perry Meridian High School and arrived on campus in 1995. While pursuing a business degree, McKenzie encountered a defining moment through an invitation from faculty leaders Dave Greene and John Hill: Join a select group of students and build a legacy. The 3/2 MBA Program legacy. She said yes—and set a new trajectory for her life and career.

After graduating with her 3/2 MBA in 2000, she spent five additional years living in Bloomington. She worked at BKD (now Forvis Mazars) accounting firm and then returned to Kelley as associate director of alumni relations to build connections between 3/2 MBA students and alumni. McKenzie then transitioned to a consulting role at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Chicago, a switch made possible through employee referrals from fellow 3/2 MBA alumni—a testament to the power of the Kelley network.

Based in Washington, DC, for the last 16 years, she is a leader in PwC’s Aerospace and Defense advisory practice, guiding clients through enterprise transformation to achieve shareholder and mission objectives.

Throughout her 22-year PwC career, McKenzie never stopped saying yes to Kelley. Whether serving as a host in a weeklong bootcamp known as 3/2 Orientation, or guest lecturing, reviewing resumes, mentoring first-generation business students, or teaching entire course modules.

Today, her extensive service includes the Bloomington Dean’s Council, the Accounting Advisory Group, and the Kinsey-Kelley Center board, while serving as an adjunct faculty in the 3/2 MBA program and supporting PwC’s campus recruiting effort at IU. She views this active involvement as an essential responsibility—bringing real-world client experience into the classroom so current students can, like Holly herself, discover bigger dreams.

Her commitment to the Kelley community eventually brought her full circle. In October 2025, McKenzie made Bloomington her official home away from home, purchasing a house with her partner and reconnecting with the town and the lifelong family of friends, professors, and former mentees she built over nearly three decades.