CEO of Thrivent Financial is UWRF’s Executive in Residence

March 14, 2011—Brad Hewitt, President and CEO of Thrivent Financial is the University of Wisconsin-River Falls’ spring executive in residence.

Hewitt will be on campus on March 23.  His visit includes a lecture at 2 p.m. in the Riverview Ballroom at the University Center on "Social Business and Social Capital - What's Old Is New Again." ‘Social business’ and ‘social capital’ are the latest buzzwords in business and he will discuss how businesses can learn important lessons from an age-old model.

A graduate of UW-River Falls with a degree in mathematics, Hewitt completed the Harvard Graduate School of Business Program for Management Development.

Hewitt joined Thrivent Financial in 2003 as senior vice president of Fraternal Operations, and brought with him the perspective of 21 years of business experience in the insurance and healthcare industries, and the Lutheran church.

Hewitt has also served as president of the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Foundation. In 2008, he was named chief operating officer and in 2010 became president and CEO.  Previously, from 1998-2003, he was chief administrative officer of The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod in St. Louis, Mo. Other positions he has held include director of underwriting for United HealthCare Corporation, and president and CEO of Diversified Pharmaceutical Services.

He serves on several local and national boards including: chair of the Board of Regents of Concordia University, St. Paul, Minn., member of the board for the Lutheran Community Foundation, member of the board of directors of American Council of Life Insurers and past member of the board of Lutheran World Relief.

Thrivent Financial, a not-for-profit Fortune 500 financial services membership organization is the second largest commercial mortgage company in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.  It ranks fourth among the top 100 private companies in the metro area, sixth among the top 25 asset management firms and sixth among the top securities broker/dealer firms.

This event is free and open to the public. The Executive-in-Residence event is sponsored by the WESTconsin Credit Union and the College of Business and Economics (CBE). For more information, contact CBE at 715-425-3335 or visit https://www.uwrf.edu/CBE.