Entrepreneur and investor Brian Callaghan to give Wells Fargo Lecture
Brian Callaghan, a Richmond, Va., entrepreneur and investor, will give the Wells Fargo Distinguished Lecture, sponsored by the Pamplin College of Business and Wells Fargo on Thursday, Sept. 5, 3:30 p.m. at Alumni Assembly Hall in the Holtzman Alumni Center at The Inn at Virginia Tech, located at 901 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg.
Callaghan, who graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1993, will give the audience a personal view of his journey to success. He will share the lessons he has learned launching, growing, and eventually selling one of the most successful information technology staffing companies in the country. He will also offer career advice to students and provide insights on the job outlook.
Callaghan co-founded Apex Systems in 1995, at age 24, with fellow Tech alumni Jeff Veatch, who received a bachelor’s degree in finance in 1993, and Edwin "Win" Sheridan, who received a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1994.
Headquartered in Richmond, Apex grew rapidly and won several industry honors, including being named to the 2012 Best of Staffing Client List and making Inc. magazine’s list of the fastest growing businesses in America eight times. It was the nation’s sixth largest information technology staffing firm, with more than $700 million in revenue, in 2012, when it was acquired by On Assignment, a publicly traded, global IT and health care staffing and services provider based in California.
With the acquisition, Callaghan and his co-CEOs relinquished their roles and joined the board of On Assignment.
A native of New Jersey, Callaghan moved to Virginia while in high school. He has received many professional awards, including being Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for Virginia. A passionate baseball fan, he is an investor in two minor league baseball teams, the Omaha Storm Chasers and his hometown Richmond Flying Squirrels.
Read more about Apex in this Pamplin magazine feature.
The Wells Fargo Distinguished Lecture series in Pamplin has featured a variety of business professionals, including senior executives from GE, Nielsen, IBM, Ralph Lauren, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The event is free and open to the public, no tickets needed. Free parking is available at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center. Find more parking information online or call 540-231-3200.
