Young Alumnus of the Year Adrian Vaughn Mitchell Adrian Mitchell earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from LSU in 1996 and received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 2000. Mitchell joined Crate & Barrel in 2010 and today serves as chief financial and chief operating officer, leading a team of international associates as head of the international retail and e-commerce operations, global supply chain operations, architecture and construction, real estate, facilities, tax, treasury, controller/accounting and finance departments. Prior to joining Crate & Barrel, Mitchell spent four years with Target Corporation in Minneapolis, Minn. He advanced from senior group manager to director of innovation and productivity during his first year with the organization and in 2009 was named director of strategy and interactive design, reporting directly to the president. During his career with Target, Mitchell was appointed to the Diversity Action Committee and was an executive member of multiple steering committees. During eight years with the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, Inc., in Dallas and Chicago, Mitchell served as a business analyst, associate, engagement manager, and associate principal/junior partner. Early in his career, he was an associate in corporate finance with the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc., in New York City. Mitchell excelled academically and as a student leader. At LSU, he was named the University and College of Engineering Most Outstanding Student three years in a row, U.S. Black Engineering Student of the Year, and National Society of Black Engineers Member of the Year and was invited to join the Board of Directors of the Minority Engineering Program. He received the Bert King Foundation Fellow for Student Leadership at Harvard Business School. Mitchell and his wife, Lily, a graduate of Southern University in Baton Rouge, have three children – Lydia, Abel, and Nathanael. The family resides in Winnetka, Ill.
I am eternally grateful to LSU for the opportunities it provided me and for the many mentors among faculty who supported me every step of the way. LSU, thank you!
LSU Alumni Magazine | Summer 2014
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