PULLMAN The School of Hospitality Business Management will host this year’s Burtenshaw Lecture series at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25 in the newly renovated Compton Union Building (CUB) Auditorium.
This year’s guest speaker is Clarice Turner, president and COO of Papa Murphy’s International, Inc. Her speech will be titled “Powerful Leadership is Not About the Power.”
Turner joined the Vancouver, Wash., based take-and-bake pizza company this year following a highly-respected 16-year stint with Yum! Brands, where she progressed rapidly through a variety of executive management positions at Yum! and its subsidiary Taco Bell Corporation. She has studied at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and Fudan University in Shanghai, China; ultimately earning an undergraduate degree in geology and later a master of business administration from San Francisco State University.
Turner spearheaded national initiatives to address improving the Yum! chain’s systems, processes and new products as well as contributing in the areas of margin improvement analysis and brand communications. Turner began her career in Seattle as a market manager, accountable for Taco Bell locations in Washington and Sacramento, California and was rapidly promoted to lead all aspects of Taco Bell’s emerging business as an expatriate in Canada. Upon her return to the U.S., Clarice was appointed to lead operations for eight western states.
In addition to her work with the Taco Bell brand she was also instrumental in establishing standards for successful operation of multi-branded Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut and Long John Silvers locations. Turner currently serves as Chair of Washington State University’s Advisory Board for the School of Hospitality Business Management where she’s been a member since 1994.
The Burtenshaw Lecture Series is free and open to the public. The series was created by alumnus Jerry (’56 Hotel and Restaurant Administration) and Angelina Burtenshaw to honor the memory of their son, Calvin Brett.
From the series’ first speaker in 1981, guest presenters have included top names, experts, and entrepreneurs in the field of hospitality. Their topics have covered a wide range of industry-related and timely issues, with students, faculty, staff, and members of the community attending the lectures. The Burtenshaws also created a memorial scholarship for students in Hospitality Business Management in their son’s name.
Jerry Burtenshaw is chairman of ABC Services (Seattle), a founding member of the School of Hospitality Business Management advisory board, a former trustee of the WSU Foundation, a President’s Associate, and 1982 recipient of the WSU Alumni Achievement Award.
