Undergrad Alumni Profiles

Experience

This summer I will be attending my 20^th reunion at Notre Dame. As I look back on the time that I spent as an undergraduate in the Chemical Engineering program, I am even more convinced today that it was a terrific base from which to build my career, regardless of how far from the field I am today. It provided a disciplined approach to problem solving and a favorable environment for leadership. Although it has been several years since I used a Reynolds number or cracked Perry’s handbook, I look back favorably on my time at Notre Dame as a student and as a “Cheg”.

"During my senior year, I had the opportunity to talk one on one with some of my professors, including Dr. McCready and Dr. Wolfe. I talked to them about how I wanted to use my engineering in more of a business environment. I ended up taking a job at Air Products that really helped guide me in the right direction. They had a career development program that gave you exposure to different aspects of engineering. I soon found that I was much better at relating to engineers than actually being one. I moved into technical sales and really enjoyed it. With a strong background in engineering, I felt the desire to build my business skills to the same extent. I was fortunate enough to be accepted to Harvard Business School, largely, in my opinion, because I was an engineer.

At graduation I had several excellent opportunities to enter industrial marketing or technical sales. With some hesitation, I decided to go a less technical route, into consumer, or brand marketing at General Mills. The rest is history as I found the optimal balance of creative problem solving and business leadership for which I was searching. I have really enjoyed my past 15 years at General Mills leading efforts from turning around a distressed Pillsbury business to shooting commercials with Olympic athletes for Wheaties. It has not been a linear path from my chemical engineering past, but one I believe was made possible by it.”

After graduating in 1986 from Notre Dame, Shawn took a job at Air Products in Allentown, PA. He attended Harvard Business School and graduated with an MBA in 1990, before joining General Mills as a Brand Marketer. He has progressed through General Mills over the past 15 years managing brands like Wheaties, Betty Crocker and Pillsbury. He promoted to Vice President in 1998 and recently became part of General Mills Consumer Foods Sales team. He leads a group of 250 people managing $2B in revenue. He has twice won the Chairman’s Award at General Mills for innovation and speed.

He has a wife, Becky who is also a Vice President at General Mills, and two children, Jack, 8 and Mary Rose, 4. They live in Minneapolis, MN. In 2000, he was recognized by Notre Dame with the annual Alumni Award.