Tammy Thayer-Ali Vice President, Custom Programs, Center for Advanced Studies in Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Tammy Thayer-Ali's work involves building partnerships between private corporations and the University of Wisconsin-Madison to supplement a corporations' training needs to fulfill their strategies and objectives. She works closely with executives and university faculty to design company-specific programs.

Thayer-Ali has more than 20 years of experience with public, private and international companies, including two of the largest conference providers in the world, IBC Gulf Conferences and the Institute for International Research. As Managing Director at these organizations in Italy and the United Arab Emirates, she led teams that designed, developed and marketed training programs for senior executives and managers. During her 13 years in Italy, Tammy also worked for Hewitt Associates as a consultant, and for Nestle Perugina in Human Resources. At Nestle she designed and delivered training programs on leadership and communication skills for all levels of managers.

Thayer-Ali spent five years in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where she was sent to open the first conference company in the Middle East. Prior to returning to the USA, she worked as a headhunter. Thayer-Ali has an MBA from Boston University and bachelor's degree in sociology from UW-Madison.