The Carlson School of Management's 1st Tuesday Speaker Series began in 1992 to provide an opportunity for alumni and friends of the Carlson School to continue their management education. The 1st Tuesday Speaker Series features top executives addressing hot topics in business and leadership.

Held on the first Tuesday of every month at the McNamara Alumni Center, with a virtual participation option, the program attracts alumni and business leaders from throughout the corporate community and has become an attractive spot for professionals in the metropolitan area to network.

The June event features Prathibha Varkey, President of Mayo Clinic Health System. 

As President of Mayo Clinic Health System, Dr. Prathibha Varkey leads 17,000 employees serving 16 community hospitals and 53 multi-specialty clinics across 44 communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. Varkey is also a Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.

A nationally recognized expert in Quality Improvement, Varkey is a past President of the American College of Medical Quality, has authored over 80 publications and is the editor of two books: Medical Quality Management and Mayo Clinic Board Review on Preventive Medicine and Public Health. She was recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the "Top 25 Women Leaders in Healthcare" for 2023.

Varkey earned her MBBS from the Christian Medical College in Vellore, India; a Masters of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health; a Masters of Health Professions Education from the University of Illinois, Chicago; and a Masters of Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. She completed her internal medicine residency at the Yale New Haven Health Hospital of Saint Raphael and a preventive medicine fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. She has an honorary master of Arts degree from Yale University.