The St. Louis Business Journal will present its 2017 CFO of the Year Awards on May 18 at Windows on Washington. One-third of the honorees are UMSL College of Business Administration alumni. (Image by Wendy Allison)
The St. Louis Business Journal recently announced its list of honorees for the 2017 CFO of the Year Awards – and a full one-third of the recipients are College of Business Administration alumni from the University of Missouri–St. Louis.
Delta Dental’s Barbara Bentrup, BSBA 1989; Parkway School District’s Patty Bedborough, BSBA 1988; the Lawrence Group’s Laura Conrad, BSBA 1991; and Midwest BankCentre’s Dale Oberkfell, BSBA 1978, will each take home the honors, which will be officially bestowed during the St. Louis Business Journal’s annual awards dinner on May 18 at Windows on Washington.
The CFO of the Year Awards are presented to St. Louis-area business leaders who hold the title of chief financial officer – or the title’s equivalent. They must exemplify remarkable performance and leadership in their roles, and their companies’ headquarters and home office must both be located in the St. Louis region.
This year’s awards feature 12 honorees from four different categories: Healthcare, Nonprofit, Small Corporation ($100 million and less in annual revenue) and Large Corporation ($101 million and more in annual revenue).
Bentrup is among the Healthcare awardees, Bedborough is in the Nonprofit category, and both Conrad and Oberkfell belong to the Small Corporation group.
Asked for his reaction to the news, UMSL business Dean Charles Hoffman – himself a UMSL alumnus – said he was proud and pleased, if not surprised.
“It’s always gratifying to see our alumni achieving such success,” Hoffman said. “The College of Business is proud to join in recognizing Laura, Dale, Barbara and Patty. Their leadership serves as a shining example of the strength and quality of our programs, but even more than that, their work strengthens the entire St. Louis region. More than 70 percent of our 29,000 alumni continue to live and work in the St. Louis area and contribute to our local economy. These fine alumni are an integral part of that important group. We’re honored to have been a part of their journey.”
The UMSL College of Business Administration is currently celebrating its 50th year of offering internationally and nationally ranked programs. The college holds a dual accreditation from the Association to Advance College Schools of Business in both business and accounting – an achievement held by less than 2 percent of business schools worldwide.
