Dennis Hightower
MBA 1974
Dennis Hightower served as president of Disney Consumer Products based in Paris and led the company's entry into Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, and post-Apartheid South Africa.
Hightower grew Disney's business from $650 million to $4.5 billion with 42 countries reporting to him through the 16 subsidiaries and joint ventures in the region. In 1995, he returned to the United States to serve as president of Walt Disney Television & Telecommunications.
After his retirement from the Walt Disney Company, Hightower became a professor of Management at HBS. In 2009, he was appointed by President Barack Obama as deputy secretary of commerce.