January Lunch with the Ron Nicol, '75
2023 Distinguished Graduate Award recepient
Ron Nicol, ’75, recently selected as a 2023 Distinguished Graduate Award (DGA), will be our Featured Speaker.
He will present highlights from a recent pro bono study he led for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) analyzing historical trends on admissions and graduation rates at the Naval Academy, spanning to 1900 to current day, as well as insights on the Academy’s future trajectory as an institution.
Some of the key themes he will cover, among others, include:
- USNA’s Strategy Change circa 1980
- Great to Greater Story
- Margin of Excellence funding criticality for USNA success
- Headwinds USNA faces in the near future
- Focus on Branding required
About Ron Nicol
Following his graduation from the United States Naval Academy in Physics with honors, Ron worked at the Naval Research Laboratory and subsequently served as an active duty Naval Nuclear Submarine officer.
He then held senior positions with Babcock and Wilcox in engineering, Computer Integrated Manufacturing, marketing and operations management.
After completing his MBA from Duke University, he joined the Boston Consulting Group where he was a Senior Partner for 21 years.
During his career at BCG he held the following positions:
- Leader of the Americas (North, Central, and South America)
- Global Leader of the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Practice
- Global Leader of the Organization Practice
He served on the BCG Executive Committee for 10 years and led all of BCG’s Practices.
Ron served as the Chairman of the Board of Visitors for Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and is currently Chairman Emeritus. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of several companies and the United States Naval Academy Foundation. During the 2016 Presidential Transition, Ron led the largest portion of the transition where he and his teams were responsible for the transition of all the agencies of the US government. He was named a 2023 Distinguished Graduate of the United States Naval Academy. 5 recipients are named per year out of over 50,000 living alumni. Ron is currently the Executive Chairman of NUBURU, a high power blue laser company.