Pamplin alumni to discuss career development in campus talks this month

9 Sep 2011

Pamplin College of Business alumni Raheel S. Khan and James B. Kelly will discuss business and career development in Wachovia Distinguished Lectures this month.

Khan, a manager in the transaction advisory group of global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal, will give his talk, “Get Promoted: Achieving Success Early in Your Career,” on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 3:30 p.m. at the Holtzman Alumni Center’s Alumni Assembly Hall. Kelly, a partner in Hickory Ridge Group, which advises health care and technology companies, will give his talk, “Seek What You Don't Know,” on Thursday, Sept. 29, at 3:30 p.m. at the Holtzman Alumni Center’s Alumni Assembly Hall.

Both events are free and open to the public, no tickets needed. Free parking is available at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center. Find more parking information online or call 540-231-3200.

Khan earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting and information systems in 2006 and 2007. Since beginning his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City, he has advised clients in more than 50 transactions across many industries. At Alvarez and Marsal, which offers services related to turnaround and interim management and performance improvement, among others, he specializes in providing buy-side and sell-side financial due-diligence services to private equity and corporate clients. He received two promotions in November 2010, becoming a manager just three years into his career.

Khan received Pamplin’s Outstanding Senior and Outstanding Accounting Graduate Student awards. He currently serves on the board of directors of Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech Inc., a non-profit that owns Collegiate Times, Bugle, and other student-run media organizations on campus.

In addition to his Virginia Tech bachelor’s degree in business administration, earned in 1963, Kelly also received a bachelor’s degree in 1964 at what is now the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He was formerly president and CEO of Flight Explorer, a Northern Virginia software and information technology solutions provider to the global aviation industry. A former pilot, Kelly turned the company from a loss to profitability, doubling its revenue.

Previously, he was the founder, president, and CEO of SynXis, a leading hotel reservation management software provider, and its telecommunications spin-off Innovectra. Innovectra was acquired by Edison Venture Fund, and SynXis and Flight Explorer by Sabre Holdings. He held division vice president positions at BDM (now part of Northrop Grumman), and SAIC and served as a deputy assistant secretary for economic policy under Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige during the Reagan administration.

Kelly is a partner in VT Growth Partners, which provides business expertise from experienced Virginia Tech alumni and friends to early-stage companies. He serves on the Pamplin Advisory Council.

In addition to speakers from Wachovia — now Wells Fargo — the lecture series has featured senior executives from Nielsen, GE, Wells Fargo Securities, IBM, Ralph Lauren, KPMG, Siemens Corporation, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, among others.