952: The Business of Style - with Ron Marshall, President, & Scott Carnz, Provost, LIM College

Ron Marshall became President of LIM College in January of 2024, after serving since 2019 on the LIM College Board of Directors and acting as a consultant and senior advisor to the College on strategic, financial, and operational matters.

President Marshall is a seasoned retail executive. Among many executive leadership roles throughout his career, President Marshall led the Nash-Finch Company, a $5 billion food distribution and retailing company, from 1998 to 2006 and served as Chief Executive Officer for Borders Group, Inc. and the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company. Most recently, President Marshall served as Chief Executive Officer of Claire’s Stores Inc. from 2016 to 2019.

Earlier in his career, President Marshall served in a series of positions of increasing responsibility with Pathmark Stores, Inc., Barnes & Noble Bookstores, Inc., and the Jack Eckerd Corporation. From 1976 to 1980 he was a Certified Public Accountant working for the international accounting and auditing firm PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers).

He has also served as Director and Audit Committee Member on the Board of Directors of Claire’s Stores, Inc. and Linens & Things, Inc., and as an Executive Committee Member of the Wright State University Foundation.

Dr. Scott Carnz joined LIM College as Provost in August of 2023. As the chief academic officer of the College, he leads LIM’s Academic Affairs unit and serves as chief advisor to the President on matters related to curriculum, faculty, academic engagement, and pedagogy.

Dr. Carnz came to LIM College from the City University of Seattle, where as Provost he oversaw more than 50 programs, ranging from the certificate level to doctoral degrees. Among his accomplishments during his tenure at the City University of Seattle were creating an Office of Social Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; establishing a Research Institute to support student and faculty scholarship; fostering a data-informed culture to assess learning outcomes and support student achievement; and increasing student persistence rates in key programs.

Previously, Dr. Carnz was with the Art Institute of Seattle for 22 years, starting as a faculty member and advancing through the ranks to become Dean of Academic Affairs. As Dean, he led 27 undergraduate programs in fields that included audio, video, and game production, as well as culinary arts, and graphic, interior, industrial, and fashion design and marketing. His experience with the school’s fashion programs included establishing an internship program that partnered with employers such as Nordstrom, Amazon, and Zulily.

Dr. Carnz has served as a Peer Site Evaluator for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. He holds a B.A. in Visual Communications from The Evergreen State College, an M.A. in Whole Systems Design… Read More