Previous Speakers

We bring some the nation’s top experts in business analytics and operations research to our campus each year to speak at the forum. Below you can find a sampling of our speakers from the last several forums or you can see our most recent agenda here. To get a more full picture of the level of discussions at our business analytics forum, you can review our company members list as well.


Fall 2022

Peter Meynard, Equifax


Fall 2019

Eliza Fink, Tableau Software

Noah Gift, UC Davis, Northwestern, UC Berkeley

Olivia Duane Adams, Alteryx

Anne G. Robinson, Kinaxis

Spring 2018

Elizabeth Hardman Ricks, Storytelling with Data

Shawndra Hill, Microsoft Research NYC

Missie Bowers, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Audris Mockus, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Austin Solomon, Pilot Flying J

Zane Troyer, Pilot Flying J


Fall 2017

Sam Ransbotham, PhD Boston College

Sean Willems, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Ramesh Alagesan, IBM

Michel Ballings, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Michael Carillon, Pilot Flying J

Joan Cronan, Author and Former Director of UT Women’s Athletics

Ryan McClurkin, Jewelry Television

Bob Muenchen, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Chuck Noon, University of Tennessee, Knoxville


Fall 2016

New Data Sources and the Internet of Things

How to Take Your Organization from ‘Connected’ to ‘Smart’
Bill Schmarzo – Chief Technology Officer, EMC Global Services Big Data

Case Study
Jeff Huckaby – Market Segment Director, Retail and Consumer Goods at Tableau Software

Evidence Engineering
Aduris Mockus –

The added value of auxilary data in sentiment analysis of Facebook posts
Michel Ballings –

Keeping up with Data and the Competition
Alicia Caputo –

Greg Jordan – Founder & CEO of Graph Story

Two Birds with One Stone: How Big Data Can Help Businesses Innovate While Fighting Extremism
Khuram Zaman – CEO, Fifth Tribe


Fall 2015

Combining Analytics and Maturity Model Concepts to Enhance Effectiveness

*Best Practices for Completing a Maturity Model Assessment
Aaron Burciaga – Analytics Applications Platform North America Lead, Global Defense Analytics Lead, Accenture; IAMM Chair (INFORMS Analytics Maturity Model), INFORMS

Analytics & Innovation at Caterpillar
Craig Brabec – Chief Analytics Officer, Caterpillar Inc.

Alumni and Forum Member Experiences in Analytics Maturity
John Hart – Scripps Networks Interactive – Infrastructure
Mark Ewing – Eastman – Analytics Capability
Essam AlShreafi – St. Onge Company
Jennifer Golek – Capital One

An Interview: Experiences in Managing Increasing Levels of Organizational Maturity
Eric Johnson, Vice President Information Services – Jewelry Television
Interviewer: Howard Kirkland, Vice President – Stowers CAT

Live Maturity Model Assessment
Aaron Burciaga and Randy Bradley

How to Effectively Implement Changes in Your Analytics Culture
Sean Willems – Haslam Chair, Supply Chain Analytics


Spring 2015

Digital Analytics

Panel: Bringing it All Together for a Relevant Customer Experience: Event Analytics
Paul Forester – VP of ecommerce & Digital Media at Teradata
James Semenak – Principal Consultant at Teradata
David Hastings – Head of Product Analytics at Netflix

Measuring the Digital World
Gary Angel – EY – Partner, Digital Analytics Center of Excellence

Connecting the Power of Social Networks with Node XL
Marc Smith – Executive Director, Social Media Foundation

Social Media and Transactional Data for Predictive Analytics
Michel Ballings – Assistant Professor, Haslam College of Business

How can CPGs Bridge the Divide for Online Versus Offline Data?
Ellen Vargas – Customer Insights & Category Management, Bush Brothers

Brand Buzz in the Echoverse
Kelly Hewett – Assistant Professor, Haslam College of Business

Cloud Data Warehousing Implication
Josh Eldridge – Director Business Intelligence, Scripps Networks Interactive

Digital Analytics for Your Corporate Intranet
Thomas Berg – Director, Technology Development Consolidated Nuclear Security

A Framework for Turning Data into Value: Case Studies in ROPO (Research Online Purchase Offline) and LTV (Lifetime Value)
David Booth – Senior Partner, Cardinal Path

Building Your Digital Analytics Team: How DAA is leading the way!
Mike Levin – Executive Director, Digital Analytics Association

The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences: Opportunities for Collaboration in Business Analytics
Tony Mezzacappaa – Director, Joint Institute for Computational Sciences and Newton W. and Wilma C. Thomas Endowed Chair


Fall 2014

So Much Data, So Little Understanding

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How to Effectively Present and Analyze Quantitative Business Data
Stephen Few – Perceptual Edge

Analytics Process Management: From Hypothesis Identification to Organizational Learning
Tim Wilson – Web Analytics Demystified

Implementing Analytics – An Applied Discussion of Educational Offerings
Allen Pannell – University of Tennessee

Forum Member Presentation – Visualization Examples at CapitalOne
Andy Drake – CapitalOne


Spring 2014

Analytics As a Growth Strategy

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Building A Data Driven Culture At Amazon
Dan Joy – Amazon

Analytics for the SMB
Eric Johnson – Jewelry Television

Building an Analytics Organization
Craig Brabec – Caterpillar

Navigating the Politics of Analytics
Randy Bradley – University of Tennessee

Supply Chain Transformation – A Case Study in the Innovative Use of Analytics
Donnie Haye – IBM Corporation

Executive Panel: How Business Analytics Professionals Can Contribute to Making Their Companies More Strategic
Hosted by Ken Gilbert – University of Tennessee
Craig Brabec – Caterpillar
Donnie Haye – IBM Corporation
Dan Joy – Amazon

Ken Gilbert will lead a question and answer session around how Business Analytics professionals can contribute to making their companies more strategic. Some of the focus will be on how Business Analyst assist with shaping the organization’s competitive strategy and in shaping the organization structure as opposed to being the people who answer questions provided them by crunching the numbers.

Competing on Analytics: How Fact-Based Decisions & Business Intelligence Drive Performance
Tom Davenport


Fall 2013

Corporate Governance of Data & East Tennessee as a Business Analytics Corridor

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Thanks for putting all your corporate data in one place…LulzSec
Joe Gipson – Cisco Systems Inc., Senior Operations Manager

The Value Proposition of Marketing Data Governance – A Roadmap to Competitive Advantage and Customer Insight
Peg Kuman – Relevate, Vice Chairman

Creating a Data Governance Strategy for Scripps Network Interactive
Fred Krimmelbein – Scripps Networks Interactive, Information Architect, Enterprise Architecture

A Brief History of High Performance Computing and Data Analysis from the Trenches
Blair Christian – PYA Analytics

If Data is the New “Asset”, is Your Data Inventory or Cash?
Allen Pannell Jr. – Haslam Graduate & Executive Education

Does Your Business Address Matter? The Biggest Asset Concern: Human Capital
Daniel Cosey – CareerBuilder, Senior Director of Intelligence

LaunchTN, A Public-Private Accelerator for High-Growth Companies Jason Dennenberg – Launch TN, Director of Entrepreneurship
Ivan Dregeov – HutGrip, CEO
Jian Huang – Survature


Spring 2013

Big Data

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IBM Tech Trends Executive Perspective
Jerry Haan – IBM, Relationship Manager, Academic Initiative

Big Data as Part of a Competitive Business Strategy
Jeff Wade – Market Street Solutions, CEO & President

Measuring the ROI of Your Business Analytics Initiatives
Randy Bradley – University of Tennessee, Knoxville – Supply Chain Management

Creating a Culture of Testing and Experimentation
Andy Pulkstenis – State Farm Insurance, Program Director Analytics

Presentation and Open Discussion: Building Analytic Skills for a Smarter Planet
Kendrick Heath – IBM, Business Analytics Solutions Architect

Big Picture Thinking
Mandyam Srinivasan – Pilot Corporation Chair of Excellence, Haslam College of Business

Presvious