When Gross took over in February 2016—becoming Supervalu’s fourth CEO this decade—he inherited a company in a pickle. Keeping up with America’s ever-shifting grocery expectations has proven to be a…

After Joe Dowling’s 20-year run as artistic director, the Guthrie got new leadership over the summer from Joseph Haj. With extensive acting and directing credentials, Haj’s early choices for stage…

Pakou Hang, a naturalized American citizen born in a refugee camp in Thailand, leads the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA). She first learned about agriculture while picking cucumbers as a…

Gov. Mark Dayton tapped Shawntera Hardy to lead DEED in April; she previously served on the governor’s leadership team as deputy chief of staff. Hardy brings a strong mix of…

Angela Heikes took the baton this fall from the legendary Ed Stevenson, who helped build the Mystic Lake gaming empire into a nationally influential colossus. She inherits an operation that…

David Herman became CEO of this Duluth-based health care system—a nationally accredited accountable care organization—in January 2015. Like all leaders of health care systems, he’s dealing with the challenges of…

Succeeding the genial and outgoing R.T. Rybak in a booming economy, it was conjectured that Betsy Hodges was in for a smooth first term. But as the reserved and diffident…

Alan Hodnik’s Duluth-based utility has wielded remarkable economic development power in northeastern Minnesota. It covers a 26,000-square-mile service area, which includes the Iron Range and North Shore. It supplies power…

Since taking over as CEO in 2014, Vicki Holt has kept two goals top of mind: a) Push the company's annual revenue to $1 billion; and b) outrun her competitors.…

The Obamacare medical device tax could have given Minnesota's largest device manufacturer a heart attack. But while the tax has done the indusrty no favors, and despite slow cardiac-device sales…

Garry Jenkins arrived at the U’s law school at a pivotal time. Declining enrollment has hit law schools everywhere; the U’s program has tapped general operating budget funds to cover…

In his 28 years with Paul Bunyan, Gary Johnson has worked his way from computer programmer to CEO, a position he has held since 2012. In 2014, Johnson announced the…

2021, Builder: When the pandemic unfolded in Minnesota, the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation was one of the first grantmakers out of the gate to announce special funding for affected…

Joly, who left the Carson travel conglomerate for Best Buy in August 2012, has taken the company from code blue to Renew Blue, a five-part intiative designed to resuscitate the…

Margaret Anderson Kelliher has spent her career in public service, but she’s now playing a pivotal role bridging the gap between private-sector needs and public-sector attention and resources. As Minnesota…

Since 2012, Kris Kewitsch has helped ensure that the Charities Review Council functions as an independent resource for people who want to make informed giving decisions while helping nonprofits advance…

Dan Knights, a 37-year-old assistant professor in the University of Minnesota’s computer science and engineering department, is garnering attention by combining two hot research fields—machine learning and medical inquiry—to look…