Four alumni elected to the Bates College Board of Trustees

The Bates College Board of Trustees has selected four new members, representing the technology, venture capitalism and financial services industries, President Clayton Spencer announced today. All Bates alumni, the new members are:

• Chris Barbin ’93, chairman, CEO and co-founder of the technology consulting firm Appirio;
• Gregory Ehret ’91, CEO and an executive director of PineBridge Investments;
• Garth Timoll ’99, managing director at the venture capital firm Top Tier Capital Partners; and
• Lisa Utzschneider ’90, chief revenue officer at Yahoo! Inc.

Chris Barbin

Barbin is the chairman, CEO and co-founder of Appirio, a technology enabled consulting firm that helps companies move into cloud computing platforms. Appirio is based in Indianapolis, has more than 1,250 employees across seven  locations worldwide, and is supported by the industry’s largest crowdsourcing community of developers, designers, and data scientists.

Appirio’s clients include Facebook, Google, Amazon, Intuit, and The Four Seasons, among others. Founded in 2006, Appirio is the leading independent cloud consultancy in the world.

Barbin has been named a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, attending and speaking in Davos and China. He has also been an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist and has been recognized by The New York Times for his leadership philosophy. Prior to Appirio, Barbin held senior leadership positions at Borland Software, webMethods, and W.W. Grainger, Inc.

At Bates, Barbin majored in political science, and ran cross-country and track. He resides in Chicago, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. Barbin and his wife, Lori, have three children.

Gregory Ehret

Ehret was named CEO and an executive director of New York-based PineBridge Investments in January 2016. The firm, a global multi-asset platform, has approximately $85 billion in assets under management.

Ehret joined PineBridge after 20 years with State Street Global Advisors, the investment management division of State Street Corp. where he most recently served as president. For five years, Ehret led the firm’s business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa from its London office where he built a track record of growing business in both developed and emerging markets.

Ehret graduated from Bates in 1991 with a degree in economics and earned an MBA from Boston University. While at Bates, he played on the varsity lacrosse and the club rugby teams.

Ehret has served as an Alumni in Admission volunteer and has helped with the college’s recruitment of students overseas. He has also hosted receptions and networking events for the Bates community in Boston.

Ehret and his wife, Barbara, live in Boston with their two sons.

Garth Timoll

Timoll is a managing director at Top Tier Capital Partners, a venture capital firm based in San Francisco. At Top Tier, Timoll focuses on the firm’s secondary and co-investment efforts. Timoll was also a vice president at Portfolio Advisors, and a senior associate at Fairview Capital Partners.

Last year, Timoll was selected as one of the Toigo Foundation’s “40 under 40,” which honors those in the financial sector that exemplify professional excellence, ethical leadership and community service.

Timoll graduated from Bates in 1999 with a degree in psychology and a minor in economics. While at Bates, Timoll was a Benjamin E. Mays Scholar and a member of the varsity basketball and track teams. He has since provided students with career advice through the Bates Career Development Center. In addition to his Bates degree, Timoll earned an MBA from Cornell University.

Timoll and his wife, Phyllis, live in San Francisco with their two children.

Lisa Utzschneider

Utzschneider is one of the tech world’s leading sales and advertising executives. As the chief revenue officer at Yahoo, Utzschneider leads the company’s sales and operations organization globally.

Utzschneider joined Yahoo in 2014 from Amazon.com. She was credited with building Amazon’s advertising business into a $750 million annual enterprise. Prior to her six years leading Amazon’s advertising efforts, Utzschneider spent a decade in various advertising roles at Microsoft, including general manager of the company’s sales and accounts services group.

Utzschneider has been honored in the Adweek 50, Business Insider’s “Most Powerful Women in Mobile Advertising,” New York Business Journal’s “Women of Influence” and Working Mother’s “50 Most Powerful Moms.”

Utzschneider graduated from Bates in 1990 with a major in English. She also has a master’s degree in public administration from New York University.

Utzschneider and her husband, Okan, live in New York City with their two daughters.