Spring Hill College has selected Christopher Puto, an alumnus with deep roots in business education, to serve as the 37th president of the west Mobile campus. Puto, who graduated from Spring Hill in 1964, will take over the role at the oldest Catholic college in the Southeast starting June 1, succeeding the Rev. Gregory F. Lucey, who plans to remain at the college in an administrative capacity.
After Spring Hill, Puto earned an MBA from the University of Miami and went on to become the first person to receive a doctorate in business administration from Duke University. He served on Spring Hill’s board of trustees from 2003 to 2012 before returning to lead the institution outright.
Puto’s career includes stints at the University of Arizona, the University of Michigan and Appalachian State University, along with consulting work for major companies including General Electric and Bank of America. He also helped lead a strategic planning effort at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business that raised $80 million over three years by identifying the program’s competitive strengths and building support among key donors.
Long before his academic career, Puto worked as a sales manager for Burger King, where he was part of the team credited with developing the company’s now-famous “Have It Your Way” campaign in the early 1970s. He said the idea grew out of research showing fast-food customers didn’t want mass-produced meals; if a customer wanted a burger without onions, the company found it could deliver that just as quickly as a standard order.
Spring Hill College, founded in 1830, is regularly ranked among the top colleges in the South by U.S. News and World Report. The incoming president said he plans to bring the same kind of strategic, identity-driven thinking he used in the corporate and university worlds to his new role, starting with an assessment of what sets the small Jesuit college apart in a crowded higher education market.