Dial CEO and president to discuss managing in a multicultural workplace

Dial president and chief executive officer Brad Casper, an alumnus of Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business, will present a Wachovia Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 29.

His talk, “Leaving the Comfort Zone: Managing in the Global Economy,” is at 2-3 p.m. at the Holtzman Alumni Center’s Alumni Assembly Hall. The event is free and open to the public, no tickets needed.

Casper will draw upon his work experiences to share lessons he has learned about being an effective manager in a multicultural environment and about balancing the demands of “going global and acting local.” His talk will include some of the business challenges he faced and strategies he found effective. He will also suggest how students can prepare for a business career in a global economy and at culturally diverse workplaces.

Casper received a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1982. He has been in his current role at The Dial Corporation, a subsidiary of German multinational Henkel, since April 2005. He was previously president of the personal care division at Church & Dwight and spent 16 years at Procter & Gamble, serving in senior management positions in the United States, China, and Japan. Earlier in his career, he worked for GE as a financial analyst in its aircraft engine business.

Casper serves on the Pamplin Advisory Council and on the boards of business, educational, and community organizations in the Phoenix, Ariz.-area and across the country. He gave lectures to Pamplin management and finance classes in 2007 and is the third and last speaker in the Wachovia Distinguished Lecture series this fall.

Earlier lectures were presented by Nielsen chairman and chief executive officer David L. Calhoun and Wells Fargo Securities vice president Nick D’Angelo, both also Pamplin alumni. The Wachovia Distinguished Speaker series in the Pamplin College has featured senior executives from Wachovia, GE, IBM, Ralph Lauren, KPMG, Siemens Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, among others.

Pamplin magazine featured David Calhoun in its fall 2005 issue and Brad Casper in its spring 2008 issue. Download these cover stories from the issue archives of Pamplin magazine.