May 7, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Business and the UAB National Alumni Society will honor four outstanding alumni at the school's seventh annual Outstanding Alumni Awards Luncheon, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, May 9, at The Club, 1 Robert S. Smith Drive. For more information, contact Ashley Inscoe, 205-934-6048 or ashleyinscoe@uab.edu.
The honorees, accomplished in their respective fields, are
Outstanding Alumna, Lisa Gundersen, cash leader, GE Energy Power Services; Outstanding Alumnus, Damon Holditch, field sales operations manager, W.W.Grainger Industrial Supplies and HHC Commander, United States Army Reserves;
Outstanding Alumnus, André Peterson, internal audit director, Sealy Inc.;
Outstanding Alumnus, Stephen P. Zelnak Jr., chairman and CEO, Martin Marietta Materials Inc.
About the honorees
Lisa Gundersen of Atlanta has more than 30 years of experience with General Electric in various industrial and financial services businesses. She began her career as a secretary, moving into a customer service role while attending evening classes at UAB. After graduating cum laude in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in Finance, she completed GE's Financial Management Program (FMP) and joined the Corporate Audit Staff. She has held positions in financial management at GE Plastics, GE Capital and GE Energy, both domestically and in Asia. Her experience includes positions at both headquarters and the operating business level. In Hong Kong, she recruited and managed the FMP program for all GE businesses located there. In her current role as cash leader at GE Energy Power Services, she is responsible for driving cash flow metrics for a $4 billion annual revenue business. She is a member of the UAB School of Business Finance Advisory Board and a past recipient of the Stephen M. Chazen Distinguished Alumni Award and the Beta Gamma Sigma Alumni of the Year Award.
Damon Holditch, field sales operations manager at W.W. Grainger Industrial Supplies, joined the company in 2002 as an account manager in Birmingham. He was promoted to district sales manager in 2004 and to his current position in 2007. He is responsible for leadership development and district sales manager effectiveness in the Commercial East Sales area. He received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Distribution from Texas A&M University in 1990 and an M.B.A. from UAB in 2004. Prior to joining Grainger, he worked with Rexel Southern Electrical Supplies from 1991 until 2002. Holditch was a member of the Texas Army National Guard from 1990 to 1999; was in the United States Army Reserves, 2001-2006; was on active duty in Iraq for the United States Army, 2006-2007; and is currently an Infantry Captain in the United States Army Reserves. He has received extensive awards for his military service.
André Peterson is a seasoned accounting/audit manager with experience in Big 4 auditing, Fortune 500 operations/plant accounting, international audit management, international accounting management and SOX 404. He began his career with Sara Lee Hosiery as a plant controller, responsible for all accounting at multiple locations around the country. He then worked as controller for Maxima Technologies/Stewart Warner Instruments and as senior manager of operations accounting for Avondale Mills, a billion dollar company with 22 facilities nationwide. Peterson has worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Birmingham. He was a manager of internal audit for General Cable Corporation in Kentucky before joining his current company, Sealy Inc., where he is director of internal audit in Trinity, N.C. He is responsible for the management of the Internal Audit function for the company, including the risk assessment and audit planning and execution. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/Accounting from UAB in 2004 and is a CPA, CMA and Six Sigma Certified Champion.
Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. is chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Martin Marietta Materials Inc. in Raleigh, N.C. He joined the Martin Marietta Corporation in 1981 as vice president of planning and business development for the Aggregates Company. He was appointed president of Martin Marietta Aggregates in 1982, elected an officer of the corporation in 1989 and promoted to president of Materials Group in 1991. In 1994, Martin Marietta Materials Inc. became a publicly traded corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with Zelnak as president and CEO. He was elected chairman of the Board of Directors in 1997. He received his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management from Georgia Institute of Technology and holds his Master of Science in Administrative Science from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and an M.B.A. from UAB. He served three years in the U.S. Army as an explosive ordinance disposal officer. He also serves on the board of Beazer Homes, a leading homebuilder throughout the United States.