DePauw Alum Named Panera President

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Panera Bread Co. (Nasdaq: PNRA) has named Drew Madsen president. The 1978 DePauw University graduate previously served as president of Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI).

GREENCASTLE, Ind. – Drew Madsen, a 1978 graduate of DePauw University, is the new president of Panera Bread Company (NASDAQ: PNRA).

“Madsen will oversee the core caf? business,” notes today's announcement. “Madsen served as president and COO of Darden Restaurants Inc., the world's largest full-service restaurant company. During his nine years in that position, the casual-dining company's number of restaurants grew by 61 percent, sales grew 81 percent and earnings per share doubled, leading to a total shareholder return of 110 percent … He also previously served as president of Darden's Olive Garden chain and was Olive Garden's executive vice president of marketing prior to that.”

An economics major at DePauw, Madsen's resume also includes serving as president of International Masters Publishers, and vice president/general manager of James River Corp. He began his career at General Mills, where he spent 12 years, progressing from marketing assistant to vice president of marketing. He's most recently been president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

Madsen graduated from DePauw magna cum laude with membership in Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to earn his M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Source: DePauw University