Goering Center Names New President

Carol Butler to succeed Larry Grypp as leader of the country’s largest university-based educational resource for family and private businesses.

Cincinnati, Ohio – October 3, 2017  – Carol Butler has been named President of the University of Cincinnati’s Goering Center for Family & Private Business. She succeeds Larry Grypp who served in the role for nearly a decade during a time of extreme growth in membership and services.

Under Grypp’s leadership, the Goering Center’s membership grew 345 percent and financial support from corporate partners more than tripled, positioning Goering Center for further expansion with Butler as president. Larry will fully transition responsibilities to Carol by the end of the year.

“Larry’s retirement is the next step in a succession plan that is many years in the making,” said John Goering, founder and Chairman of the Board. “He helped us develop bench strength and built an infrastructure so we can scale the Center’s operations and fulfill our mission in a significantly bigger way.”

Butler is a former Fortune 500 executive with 30 years’ experience successfully leading profitable, global businesses within the manufacturing and distribution industries. Since 2013 she has operated a consulting firm, working with leaders to optimize business results through the development of people, culture and leadership. She also understands the needs of private and family businesses, having been raised in a family business which is now in its third generation of operation – Butler’s Orchard in Maryland. 

“We have enjoyed getting to know Carol as a volunteer with the Next Generation Institute – the Center’s flagship succession program,” Goering said. “Over the years she has developed strong ties to our members, volunteers and corporate partners, and she has built a very successful working relationship with our small but tightly-knit team. Larry will be deeply missed, but we are confident that Carol will be able to step in and lead us to achieve our full potential.”

Butler has deep roots in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region and is committed to the community. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Life Learning Center and Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation.

Goering Center is part of the Lindner College of Business Center of Centers – six organizations that provide interdisciplinary research, collaborate on projects, and nurture partnerships within the Greater Cincinnati and global business community. While the Goering Center provides professional management education to family and private businesses, the other Centers’ focus areas include insurance and risk management, business analytics, entrepreneurship, real estate and professional selling.

“Carol’s professional and personal experience makes her uniquely qualified to lead the Goering Center,” said David Szymanski, Dean, Lindner College of Business. “Her recent focus has been on developing high performance leaders, capable of getting great results from their teams. Before that, she was one of those leaders – a senior executive in a global enterprise. Carol has shared that perspective with her own family’s multi-generation business, and as a volunteer to the family and private businesses of Goering Center. Very few have had that leadership mix throughout their careers, and we are very pleased that she will be bringing it to the Lindner College of Business and Goering Center.”

The Goering Center’s national search committee was co-chaired by Tom Flottman of Flottman Company and Jonathan Theders of RiskSOURCE, Clark-Theders, in collaboration with Centennial Inc. Their goal was to identify a leader who embodies the mission and vision of the Goering Center. Centennial led the committee through a thorough, efficient and effective process that ensured stakeholder alignment, and included an extensive evaluation of character, culture, chemistry and competency.