TAMPA – Chris T. Sullivan, the founder of Outback Steakhouse and the former chairman and CEO of Outback Steakhouse Inc., will speak as part of The University of Tampa Sykes College of Business’s Hall of Fame Business Speaker Series on Thursday, Feb. 20.
Sullivan, whose presentation is titled Once an Entrepreneur, Always an Entrepreneur: From Localization to Globalization, will speak at the Falk Theatre at 428 W. Kennedy Blvd., from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The event is free to registered students and guests.
Sullivan, a University of Kentucky alumnus with a degree in business and economics, founded Outback Steakhouse in 1988 with Bob Basham, Tim Gannon and Trudy Cooper. The company went public in 1991, and Sullivan went on to collaborate with the founders of several nationally known restaurants including Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill to develop and operate more than 1,400 restaurants worldwide.
In 2007, with then-CEO Bill Allen, the OSI Board of Directors and the executive team sold the company to Bain Capital Partners, Catterton Partners and the founders.
Currently, Sullivan is partnered with Metro Diner, ConSul Hospitality Partners, Besito Mexican, Omnivore LLC, iPaladin LLC and several other restaurant industry investments.
In addition, he serves on the board of directors of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, the First Tee of Tampa Bay and Copperhead Charities. He is also active with charity organizations focused on education and catastrophic diseases, such as ART International, a PTSD-focused charity.
Seating is limited, so RSVP atwww.ut.edu/business/sykeshalloffame/.
For more information contact Whitney Ortiz, coordinator of College of Business operations, at wortiz@ut.edu or (813) 257-3782.
The University of Tampa is a private, residential university located on 110 acres on the riverfront in downtown Tampa. Known for academic excellence, personal attention and real-world experience in its undergraduate and graduate programs, the University serves approximately 10,000 students from 50 states and 132 countries. The majority of full-time students live on campus, and about half of UT students are from Florida.
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