Nido R Qubein

President of High Point University since 2005; Chairman of Creative Services, Inc. (international management consulting) since 1973; Chairman of Great Harvest Bread Company since 2001; Director of La-Z-Boy Incorporated since 2006; Chair of the Executive and Risk Management Committee; High Point, North Carolina. Dr. Nido Qubein came to the United States as a teenager with little knowledge of English and only $50 in his pocket. His journey has been an amazing success story. As an educator, he is president of High Point University, an undergraduate and graduate institution with 5,200 students from 40 countries and 50 states. He has authored two dozen multilingual books and audio programs distributed worldwide. As a business leader, he is executive chairman of the Great Harvest Bread Company with 220 stores in 43 states. He serves on the boards of several national organizations including BB&T (a Fortune 500 company with $235 billion in assets), the La-Z-Boy Corporation (one of the largest and most recognized furniture brands worldwide), and nThrive (a healthcare industry organization). As a professional speaker, Dr. Qubein has received many distinctions including the Golden Gavel Medal, induction into the International Speaker Hall of Fame, and the Cavett (considered to be the Oscar of professional speaking). He has been the recipient of many honors including The Ellis Island Medal of Honor (along with four U.S. presidents), The Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans (along with Oprah Winfrey and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas), the DAR Americanism Medal, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, Sales and Marketing International's Ambassador of Free Enterprise, Leadership North Carolina Governor's Award, and Citizen of the Year and Philanthropist of the Year in his home city of High Point, North Carolina.