Curriculum Vita

Professional Experience
and Responsibilities

Huntington University,
Business Professor and Executive-in-residence, 1993-present

Scudder, Stevens, & Clark (Boston), V.P., Director of High Net Worth Program, 1992-93

Fidelity Investments,
Exec. V. P., High Net Worth Program, (Boston), 1989-92

The Portfolio Group (Chemical Bank, NY), Sr. V.P., Head of Marketing and Sales, 1985-89

The Dreyfus Corp. (NY), V.P., Nat'l Sales Mgr., 1981-85

Coopers and Lybrand (NY), Tax Accountant, 1978-81

Educational Background

MBA, Columbia Univ. (NY)

M.Ed., Rhode Island College (Providence, RI)

A.B. (with honors), Brown Univ. (Providence, RI)

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Jim O'Donnell serves as associate professor of business and executive-in-residence at Huntington University. He brings to Huntington's business department the savvy earned as senior executive at some of the nation’s largest investment companies. From 1981 to 1985, he served as vice president and national sales manager for the Dreyfus Service Corporation, where he was charged with developing and managing a national sales force. During his final year with Dreyfus, he sold $1.5 billion in new investments. From 1985 to 1989, O’Donnell led the sales and marketing division of the Portfolio Group, Inc., a subsidiary of Chemical Bank. During his tenure, assets under the firm’s management grew from $800 million to $2.5 billion. O’Donnell then moved on to Fidelity Investments, first as the senior vice president for Personal Advisory Services, then as executive vice president and founding director of the High Net Worth Group, a segment marketing arm serving the needs of wealthy individuals. In 1992, he joined the Boston firm of Scudder, Stevens and Clark, again specializing in marketing to high net worth individuals. While at Scudder, he created the Investment Guidance program, yet another means of serving the investment needs of well-to-do individuals.

A marketing program O'Donnell developed was named a "Top New Retail Product Marketing Introduction of 1995" by the Washington, DC-based Advisory Board Council on Financial Competition. The marketing plan introduced a service to help individuals manage their assets.

Though highly successful, O’Donnell always cut against the grain in the dog-eat-dog world of high finance. A man of deep convictions and great thoughtfulness, he strove to inject principles of his Christian faith into an industry characterized by cut-throat business practices. A thought provoking writer, his opinions on ethics and finance have appeared in Barron's, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, America, and many other publications.

Jim now serves as Executive-in-Residence and Associate Professor of Business and Economics at Huntington University, seeking to integrate Christian faith, ethics, and values into the realm of business. Upon coming to Huntington, in 1994, Jim’s wife, Lizzie, was stricken with life-threatening illness, that has crouched at their door ever since.  As a family, they have struggled with cancer, heart failure, kidney failure and other chronic problems, all the while keeping faith and sharing their hope with others.  Letters for Lizzie, a book about Jim’s experiences of caring for his wife, was published in the spring of 2004. The book, along with Jim and Lizzie, became the substance of feature-length cover story in a September issue of The Wall Street Journal. Another book, Walking with Arthur, about Jim's journey of faith appeared in 2005. It will soon be translated into French, having also drawn a wide audience in Europe.

At Huntington University, O'Donnell helps both traditional undergraduates and the EXCEL Program's adult students to integrate Christian faith and ethics with modern business practices. He has also delivered papers at national and international academic conferences on financial bubbles and business strategy.  O'Donnell participated in a national initiative to develop curricular models showing linkages between faith, economic development, and civil society.

In 1995, Huntington University students named O'Donnell "Professor of the Year." The following year, students successfully nominated him for Who's Who Among American Educators. O'Donnell serves on the Huntington University Investment Committee, and on the Pension Committee of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.

O'Donnell is very active in the regional business community. He is a director of the Northeast Midwest Institute, an arm of the U.S. Congress. He has served as a member of the board of the Huntington County Chamber of Commerce. He directed the publication of Welcome to Huntington County, a quadrennial guidebook to the local community. He currently serves as a member of the Huntington Parks Board. He is also a member of the curriculum committee of Canterbury School in Fort Wayne, and is a member of the Pension Committee of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.

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