The Milligan Leaders in Business Lecture Series was created in 1992 through a generous endowment established by Robert L. "Bill" Milligan '22 and his wife Mary. Bill Milligan was a long time OWU Trustee and had a distinguished career in the Pure Oil Company where he became President in 1954 and Chairman from 1965 until his retirement in 1971.
The Milligan Lecture Series has brought the following distinguished leaders in business and academia to campus:
Scott D. Milligan '90
Group Vice President, Thrive Pet Healthcare
October 27, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Hamilton Williams Campus Center – Benes Rooms
Lecture Title: "The Entrepreneurial Journey: Flexibility, Tenacity and Luck"
Scott D. Milligan '90 is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and led multiple healthcare start-ups from concept to successful exits. He has been a founder and/or executive leader of Accelitech, PetCure Oncology, and SkinCure Oncology.
In 2014, Scott built and transformed the company PetCure Oncology from an idea into the market leader in providing advanced veterinary radiation oncology for pets. He successfully sold the business to a private equity-backed company in 2020; the company is now called Thrive Pet Healthcare. Before that, he co-founded Accelitech, and as Chief Development Officer, he created the largest private network of stereotactic radiosurgery cancer treatment programs in the country. Through this venture, Scott and his business partners also founded and launched SkinCure Oncology, a leading provider of non-invasive treatment for skin cancer, with over 400 locations throughout the United States, and have recently partnered with private equity sponsors.
Currently, Scott is the Group Vice President of Thrive Pet Healthcare, the acquirer of PetCure Oncology, overseeing the national outpatient veterinary specialty business. Thrive is a $1.4 billion revenue company with 8,000 employees and 1,300 doctors. He also serves on the Board of SkinIO, which is an AI-driven skin cancer screening company based in Chicago. Scott began his career in consulting, most notably at Ernst & Young, where he served as a Senior Manager in the Healthcare Group. He holds a BA in Economics with a Concentration in Management from Ohio Wesleyan University.
| 10/15/2024 |
Michael Tiedemann '93, Chief Executive Officer, AlTi Tiedemann Global, "The Building of a Global Wealth Management Firm" |
| 12/6/2023 | Blair Kisker, Vice President of Finance & Accounting at FC Cincinnati, "Following Passion to Career: From Accounting to the World of Soccer" |
| 10/4/2022 | Dawn Dickson, Founder & CEO of PopCom, "Entrepreneurship: Are YOU built to scale?" |
| 3/24/2022 | Pete Watson, Executive Chairman, Board of Directors Greif, Inc. "Creating a Culture of Servant Leadership" |
| 10/1/2019 | Dave Kaufman '81, CEO of Encova Insurance, "Integrated Leadership" |
| 10/4/2018 | Shadman Zafar '94, Head of Digital, Citi, "The Rules of Engagement - How to Succeed in Corporate America" |
| 10/19/2017 | Daymond John, Founder and CEO of FUBU, Branding Expert and Investor on ABC's hit show, Shark Tank, "5 Shark Points" |
| 11/3/2016 | Jim Dicke II, honorary degree, Chairman & CEO of Crown Equipment Corporation, "Leadership in Business and in the Wider World" |
| 10/23/2014 | Tracie Winbigler '87, Chief Operations Officer for the National Geographic Society, "The Media Industry and the Digital Transition." |
| 10/3/2013 | Louis A. Simpson '58, Chairman of SQ Advisors, LLC, "Corporate America - to rent of to own?" |
| 09/28/2012 | Clark Winter '73, Founder of Clark Winter Enterprises, a global Investment research and strategy firm. "The Global Economy Going Forward: Making Sense of Apparent Nonsense" |
| 09/22/2011 | Andres Duarte '62, Managing Director of Duarte Vivas y Asociados, C.A. "Survival Management in a Distorted Economy: the Venezuelan Model" |
| 11/17/2009 | John F. Milligan '83, President & CEO of Gilead Sciences, Inc. "The Story of Gilead Sciences – Building a Business that Transformed a Disease" |
| 10/23/2008 | George S. Carpenter '78, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. "Changing the Marketing Game" |
| 10/25/2007 | David M. Cromwell '66, Retired President & CEO JPMorgan Capital Corporation and Adjunct Professor at the Yale School of Management. "Are You an Entrepreneur?" |
| 10/03/2006 | Toshi Amino, Retired Executive Vice President, Honda of America Manufacturing. "China's Automobile Industry" |
| 09/29/2005 | Louis A. Simpson '58, President and Chief Executive Officer, Capital Operations GEICO Corporation. "Creating Shareholder Value" |
| 10/13/2004 | Dragan Filipovic, Senior Principal Scientist, Kraft Foods and Global Research Technology Strategy. "Creativity & Productivity in a Manufacturing Environment" |
| 11/06/2003 | Frederick A. Manske, Jr. '61, Retired CEO from Purolator Courier and formerly Senior Vice President, Federal Express. "The Leadership Challenge – Opportunity Knocks – Are You Ready?" |
| 09/12/2002 | Charles M. Berger, Woltemade Center Executive-In-Residence, Chairman and Retired CEO, Scotts Company, Marysville, Ohio. "Making Good Companies Great" |
| 04/04/2000 | Al '64, Nationally Recognized Expert in Supply Chain Management. "The Missing Link – Bringing Supply Chain Management to the Forefront of Business" |
| 09/29/1999 | David Wetherell, President and CEO, CMGI, Inc. (Sagan National Colloquium Address). "The Internet in a Global Society" |
| 10/08/1998 | James Becher '61, President and CEO, The Geneva Group. "Investment Strategies for the 21st Century: The Private Equity Fund" |
| 04/20/1995 | Donald Jacobs, Dean, J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University. "Management Education for the 21st Century" |
| 10/21/1994 | Thomas G. Murdough, Jr., President of the STEP 2 Corporation, Streetsboro, Ohio. "Ethics and Entrepreneurship" |
| 04/20/1994 | Thomas M. Hout, Vice President, Boston Consulting. "Do We Have Anything to Learn from the Japanese?" |
| 11/04/1993 | Elmer W. Johnson, Partner of the Kirkland & Ellis Law firm, Chicago, and former Executive Vice President of General Motors. "The Large Corporation: An Endangered Species?" |
| 03/24/1993 | Louis A. Simpson '58, Vice Chairman, GEICO Corporation. "Investing in a Global Market" |