2018 Inductees
We're pleased to announce the first inductees into the
UNH Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame!
Katie Bouton, '96 |
Katie is founder and CEO of Koya Leadership Partners. Koya is a nationally recognized executive search firm that is dedicated to placing exceptionally talented leaders at mission-driven organizations and institutions of higher education. She started the company on a single belief: "The right person in the right place can change the world." That belief has evolved over time into the guiding principles for her firm. In 2018, Koya was named number 14 on Forbes’ “America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms,” the Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Businesses, and the Boston Business Journal’s Fast 50 Award. With a strong commitment to civic and women’s leadership, Katie serves on numerous boards. She is Board Chair of IGNITE, the bipartisan initiative committed to building the next generation of female political leaders. Katie also sits on the boards of The Home for Little Wanderers and her alma mater, the College of Liberal Arts at the University of New Hampshire, and serves as a corporator of the Newburyport Five Cent Savings Bank. Katie is a Fellow at Pipeline Angels, a network of new and seasoned women investors that is changing the face of angel investing and creating capital for women social entrepreneurs. Katie was also named as a finalist for EY's prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year® New England program. Katie was previously named a Boston Brava Award Winner by SmartCEO, which recognizes high-impact women business leaders. |
M. Christine “Chris” Dwyer, M ’72 |
Chris is co-owner of RMC Research Corporation. RMC is a national firm engaged in research and consultation in areas related to the well-being of families, children, and communities, specifically education, the arts, literacy, media, and health care and prevention. Her current work involves support for state and federal early childhood policy, student-centered learning and community engagement, and evaluation of theater and dance programs. Dwyer spent a decade developing media and print tools for evidence-based strategies in reading and mathematics and two decades providing technical assistance for the federal government and state agencies in the implementation of family literacy programs, focusing on early childhood and parent development. Throughout her career, Dwyer has conducted evaluations of arts and culture initiatives for national foundations. Earlier in her career, she and RMC colleagues worked with children’s public television programs such as Reading Rainbow, Arthur, Puzzle Place. Chris's work as a Portsmouth City Councilor, founding board member of the Portsmouth Music Hall, former chair of the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, trustee of the Currier Museum of Art, board member of the UNH Foundation, New Hampshire Business Committee for the Arts, and the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits have all made these organizations stronger and more relevant. In 2018, Chris received the Eileen D. Foley Award, and was a recipient of the 2010 Granite State Award from the University of New Hampshire. |
Peter T. Paul, ’67 |
Peter T. Paul is the chairman of Headlands Asset Management LLC, an investment management company he founded in 2008. He is also the owner of West Biofuels, a research and development venture and Peter Paul Wines. He is chairman of The Headlands Foundation, a nonprofit organization he founded in 1995. In 1986, Peter founded Headlands Mortgage Company, which became one of the premier wholesale lending institutions in the country, specializing in originating, selling, securitizing and servicing residential mortgage loans. After leading Headlands through a successful IPO (NASDAQ-HDLD) in February 1998, he negotiated its merger with GreenPoint Financial in 1999. Peter became vice chairman of GreenPoint Financial (NYSE-GPT) and president and CEO of GreenPoint Mortgage. In 2003, he opened Paul Financial LLC, a mortgage loan banking company from 2003 to 2007. He has served on the following public boards: Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp (1998-2004), Sequoia National Bank (2001-2005) and JMP Securities (2006-2009). In 1999, he was the recipient of the Ernst and Young entrepreneur of the Year award in financial services. In 2003, he received an Alumni Award for Distinguished Service from The Graduate School of Management at Boston University. Five years later, he received the inaugural Achievement in Business Award from the Whittemore School of Business and Economics. He received the Pettee Medal, in 2009, from the University of New Hampshire Alumni Association. In 2017 he received the Hubbard Award. Peter has been an important philanthropist to UNH providing over $40 million of support to the university. Peter earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from UNH in 1967. In 1971, he earned an MBA from Boston University, where he currently serves as a trustee. |
Chris Rondeau, ’94 |
Chris has worked at Planet Fitness for 25 years and was elevated to CEO in January 2013 after working his way through the ranks over the years and being named one of the initial partners of the company. Planet Fitness is a franchising powerhouse with more than 12 million members and over 1,600 locations in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Mexico. The company successfully completed its initial public offering in August 2015 under his leadership, and trades under the ticker symbol PLNT on the New York Stock Exchange. Chris’ passion for giving back to the community evolved into the creation of the company’s national philanthropic initiative, The Judgement Free Generation, aimed at combating the judgement and bullying faced by today’s teens by creating a culture of kindness and encouragement. Over $3mm of funding has provided critical anti-bullying training and resources to youth nationwide. Chris was awarded the 2015 Leader of Innovation Medal by Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson University), which is awarded to innovative entrepreneurs who have made significant contributions to their industry to better society and the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award in New England in 2016. |
David Shaw, ’73 |
David has founded or co-founded numerous business and social ventures. He founded IDEXX Laboratories in 1984 and served as CEO and Chair until 2002. IDEXX is a publicly-traded leading animal health diagnostics company with revenues of $2B. David co-founded Vets First Choice in 2010 and serves as Chair. Vets First Choice will be a publicly-traded $4B animal publicly-traded software services and specialty pharma company via a transaction scheduled to close later this year. He is also the founding CEO and Chair of Ikaria Holdings, a human pharmaceutical company. David served as chair of The Jackson Laboratory (ME), Treasurer of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, and Trustee of the National Parks Foundation, among others. Among his notable work is a leadership role in the US National Park Centennial and in protecting the Earth’s high seas for conservation, via the Sargasso Sea Alliance and the ongoing Aspen High Seas Initiative. He has received numerous national and international awards for his social and business entrepreneurship. |