The value of a BYU management degree is like that of a diversified stock portfolio: it appreciates with time. The new CFO of Citigroup Inc., Gary Crittenden, graduated thirty years ago and has seen only good come from listing BYU on his résumé. “BYU has a very positive reputation in the business community and that reputation continues to broaden,” he says.
Increasing numbers of graduates like Crittenden enhance the Marriott School’s reputation through skillful and ethical performance in the business world. Because of his solid record of ability and integrity, the Marriott School will present Crittenden with the 2007 Honored Alumni Award during Homecoming week this fall.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Crittenden is known among investors and analysts as a man of integrity, and Citigroup’s chair and CEO Charles Prince called him “the best of the best” among today’s financial chiefs. Crittenden discovered his business acumen in college and developed it by earning a management degree from BYU in 1976 and an MBA from Harvard in 1979. As CFO of Sears, Roebuck and Co.; Monsanto Co.; and most recently American Express, he produced a consistent record of expert financial management.
Citigroup’s offer attracted him, he says, because he sees “a significant opportunity for the company to grow.” The company provides a broad range of products and financial services to about 200 million customers in more than one hundred countries. Crittenden’s job requires that he anticipate and plan for Citigroup’s future by positioning the company to benefit from dynamic global events. He says he enjoys being “involved on the front lines of what’s happening financially throughout the world.”
Balancing a demanding career, an expanding family, and service in the church requires careful planning. “Work has the potential to take all of our available time,” Crittenden says. “I try to define the things that are most important for me and ensure they are part of my weekly schedule.”
Crittenden is a member of the school’s National Advisory Council, which promotes ethics, service, and leadership through management education. “I have seen the remarkable impact that BYU has on people,” he says. “It changes lives.”
