J ERRY D .
Stritzke Jerry D. Stritzke, of New York City, graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1982 with a degree in agricultural economics. Stritzke grew up in Stillwater, Okla., and is the president and chief operating officer of Coach Inc. in New York City. While at OSU, Stritzke was a member of FarmHouse fraternity, Alpha Zeta honorary fraternity, Blue Key Honor Society and Phi Eta Sigma honor society. He served as president and treasurer of the Ag Council and on the student worship committee at University Heights Baptist Church. Stritzke received the Outstanding Graduating Senior Award from Dean Fred Lecrone and was among the Who’s Who at OSU. He met his wife, Edith, while attending OSU. They were married Aug. 7, 1982. In 1985, he received his Juris Doctor from the University of Oklahoma. Stritzke began his career as an attorney at Best, Sharp, Thomas, Glass and Atkinson law firm in Tulsa, Okla. He became a partner at Best, Sharp, Sheridan and Stritzke at the age of 28. His practice focused on personal injury and medical malpractice defense. Stritzke made a career change in 1993 and became a consultant for Webb & Shirley/ KPMG Retail Consulting. For nearly six years, he performed consulting projects focusing on store operations, distribution center operations, merchandise planning and allocation, product commercialization, merchant, design and production functionality. In 1999, Stritzke became the senior vice president of operations for Limited Brands in Columbus, Ohio. He developed and implemented design and production capability within Victoria’s Secret and Express retail stores. In 2001, Stritzke was named the CEO of MAST Industries, a global apparel production and sourcing organization. While at MAST, Stritzke played a significant role in expanding the company’s top line from $1.2 billion to more than $3.5 billion in five years, while growing the bottom line at a compounded double-digit rate. Victoria’s Secret named Stritzke its chief operating officer and co-leader in 2006. He developed a brand-growth plan and implemented a governance model among VS Intimates, Pink, VS Beauty and emerging brands. Stritzke joined Coach Inc. as president and COO in 2008. He is responsible for all operations globally with finance, operations, systems, distribution and logistics and legal as direct reports. In 2009, he was featured in Businessweek for Coach’s less expensive Poppy line. In the last five years while Stritzke has been at Coach, the company has rapidly embraced international expansion, buying out distributors in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Korea. Stritzke was recently elected to serve on the board of directors of Lululemon Athletica, a company focusing on athletic and yoga apparel. He recently spoke at the Friends of Finance Executive Speaker Luncheon Series at the University of Tulsa. Stritzke has visited the OSU campus several times to speak to students, alumni and business professionals about his success, including at the OSU Executive Management Briefings Speaker Series. In 2010, he delivered the fall commencement speech for OSU. Stritzke and his wife are life members of the OSU Alumni Association. They have three children, Katherine Simons, Laura Nielsen and Jacob Stritzke.
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