Head of Home Depot to Speak at VCU School of Business

By Cassie Williams Jones

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business will welcome Fortune 500 business leader Frank Blake, chairman and CEO of The Home Depot, to campus this month for the 2012 Charles G. Thalhimer Family Executive-in-Residence program.

Blake will speak on Thursday, Oct. 25, from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m., at Snead Hall, 301 W. Main St. The event is free and open to the public, but space is limited. Registration is available at http://www.business.vcu.edu/Thalhimer.html.

Since 2007, Blake has led the world’s largest home improvement retailer through a tough market and earned accolades for building the corporate culture and delivering results to shareholders. Prior to this appointment, he served as vice chairman of the board of directors and executive vice president of the company. He joined The Home Depot in 2002 as executive vice president of business development and corporate operations.

Blake previously served as deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and prior to that, he worked in a variety of executive roles at General Electric. His public sector experience also includes having served as general counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), deputy counsel to Vice President George Bush and law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Charles G. Thalhimer Family Executive-in-Residence program, established in 1984, has been the premier external leadership program at the School, and is designed to bring nationally and internationally prominent business leaders to the VCU campus for interaction with students, faculty, students, alumni, community leaders and the public.