Gary Overhultz

It seemed I was destined to be a college instructor all my professional life when a friend bet me that I couldn't get and keep a 'real job' for the entire summer. Who knew it would lead to new passions in executing strategy, management, consulting, product development, and entrepreneurial dreams? I never looked back -- that is until from a career mountaintop, I felt an undeniable urge to return to my roots.

Students have not only rekindled my teaching flames, interest in lessons learned from daily life at the corporate level has cast decades of experience in a new light. It remains my pleasure to share my past, understand each person's unique path to learning, then encourage growth into expanded perspectives and skills.

My super-power is fixing things that break around the house.

Experience

Emerson College (2022 – present)

Affiliated Faculty Member, Business of Creative Enterprise

Teaching and supporting graduating seniors through residency courses designed to shape thought leaders, managers, and innovators in arts-related fields. Students learn in both classroom and real-world settings, with each fueling curiosity and enlightenment for the other. With an emphasis on individuals, all students find their own balance between art and business, becoming proficient practitioners of both with a focal point that extends beyond college graduation.

Dominican University (2020 - present)

Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Management, Brennan School of Business

Consistently very highly-rated instructor tuning minds to the power of management and marketing. Students enjoy exploring effective vs. ineffective practices and staying abreast of emerging technologies, social trends, and ecological/ethical challenges. Responsible for introductory and advanced courses in Marketing, and graduating-senior Capstone Practicum courses in Management.

Achievements: Bringing management, marketing, and personal selling principles to life and make them ‘intuitive’. Leading highly-interactive classes through contemporary topics such as digital marketing, artificial intelligence, ecological responsibility, big data, NGO’s, global economy, moments of truth, retailing in an omni-channel society, and the world of smartphones for 2-way consumer messaging.

Current Practicum classes encompass all aspects of business decision-making through computer-simulation: Product development, marketing, forecasting, production, accounting, finance, TQM, and HR. Teams must work together to decide strategy, understand market trends and competitive positions, evolve increasingly-accurate forecasts, develop contingency plans, compile and analyze data, and present results. Seamless communication and diversity of opinion are emphasized, as is attention to detail.

Classes are very well attended, and classmates are enthusiastically engaged in preparing themselves and each other for success beyond the classroom. Students hail from very diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds.

Shelfbucks

Executive Vice President, Chief Implementation Officer (2016 – 2019)

Achievements: Helped lead successful company pivot to monitor and improve retail merchandising effectiveness. Delivered on-time and on-budget national rollout to CVS chain-wide. Tested and launched wireless technology to unlock value of promotions. Intellectual property and trade secrets from Goliath Solutions (below) were purchased by Shelfbucks. Led and coauthored additional patent breakthroughs enabling next-generation marketing, retailing, and digital consumer engagement.

Goliath Solutions/OSA (2001 – 2016)

Co-founder, Chief Operating Officer

Achievements: Envisioned, developed, and scaled revolutionary wireless technology to cost-effectively monitor and optimize in-store promotions and improve on-shelf product availability. Created systems to report daily Internet-of-Things status and store-specific opportunities. Installed Walgreens chain-wide. Coauthored over 20 granted U.S. and international patents.

Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) (1986 – 2001)

• As Vice President of Product Management, helped design and launch industry-shaping marketing product (InfoScan) that grew to over $400MM/year. Initiated software development for decision support capabilities subsequently sold to Oracle Corporation for $100MM.
• As Senior Vice President/Executive Vice President of Decision Support Services, had P&L responsibility for national software Sales and Client Service organization, and grew it from launch to $50MM/year with 30%+ profitability by meeting or exceeding revenue and profit growth goals seven of eight consecutive years.
• As Division President of IRI Software Development (Boston MA), reduced software development time by 30%, program defects by 50%, and employee turnover by 25%, which increased sales and profits. Also headed company-wide quality improvement initiatives.
• As Division President of Database Services, achieved $5MM cost reduction initially and $15MM/year ongoing while boosting data quality, morale, and productivity. Decreased employee turnover in 3200-person Database Services Division.

Education

Carnegie-Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA)

M.S. Marketing from Tepper School of Business. Also taught top-rated undergraduate marketing and marketing research series, which led to tenfold increase in number of undergraduates pursing marketing careers. Earned full fellowship.

University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA)

M.A. Mathematical Psychology. Developed and optimized models of human choice behavior. Also obtained certification (M.A. equivalent) in urban transportation planning. Developed behavioral models of transit behavior to improve effectiveness of public systems throughout U.S. Earned full fellowship.

University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign, IL)

B.S. Psychology; minor in mathematics. Strong science, technology, & computer programming coursework across several disciplines.