Ashland University Sets Eighth Annual Ford Lecture

Lizanne Galbreath, managing director of Galbreath & Company, a real estate investments and private equity holdings firm, will be the featured speaker for the eighth annual Dr. Lucille G. and L.W. Ford Distinguished Business Lecture Series at Ashland University.

The luncheon talk will be held at 12 noon on Thursday, Oct. 7, in Ashland University’s Myers Convocation Center. The event is free, however reservations are required by Sept. 20. Anyone who would like an invitation should contact Dr. Khushwant Pittenger, professor of business administration, at kpitten@ashland.edu or call 419-289-5219.

The event is sponsored by Ashland University alumni Dr. Peter ’73 and Kathleen ’73 Linneman and is hosted by Ashland University’s Richard E. and Sandra J. Dauch College of Business and Economics.

Galbreath serves as managing director of Galbreath & Company, a real estate investments and private equity holdings firm founded in 1999. Previously, she has served as the managing director of LaSalle Partners and as the chairman of their largest business unit, LaSalle Partners Management Services Group, which included Leasing & Management, Facilities Management and LaSalle Development.

Prior to LaSalle Partners, Galbreath served as chairman and CEO of The Galbreath Company, a privately owned, full-service real estate company predecessor to Galbreath & Company that merged operations with LaSalle Partners in 1997.

During her tenure with Galbreath from 1984-1997, she also held operating responsibilities for the New York office from 1989 to 1993, during which time she played an instrumental role in evolving the company’s full-service capabilities. She started her real estate career in 1979 with Chemical Bank as financial analyst in their real estate division.

Her expertise and experience in real estate is well recognized and respected in the industry. She serves on the board of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc., one of the world’s largest hotel and leisure companies with about 1,000 properties in some 100 countries whose hotel empire includes widely known brands such as Sheraton, Le Meridien, W and aLoft.

Since 2002, she has served on the board of Grosvenor Americas, Ltd., where she also chairs the board’s Human Resource Committee. Grosvenor Americas, founded in 1953, is an international real estate investment, development and asset management group of companies headquartered in Vancouver with additional operating offices in San Francisco, Calgary and Washington, D.C.

In 2007, Galbreath joined the board of Stew Leonard’s – a family owned chain of supermarkets and wine stores in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey known for highest sales per unit of any single food store in the U.S.

Galbreath’s commitment to service organizations is legendary as well. She serves as a member and governor of the board of trustees for Urban Land Institute – a nonprofit research and education organization with more than 40,000 members worldwide. In addition, she is a board member of Fairfield County Community Foundation. She is also a member of the President’s Leadership Council at Dartmouth College, her alma mater where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979.

Galbreath received her MBA from The Wharton School of Business at University of Pennsylvania. She is married to John F. Megrue and is the mother of Kyle, Christopher and Jack.

Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.