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Strategy

Clinical Professor of Strategy

Michael S. and Mary Sue Shannon Clinical Endowed Professor

Portrait of Carter Cast, Faculty at the Kellogg School of Management
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Carter Cast is the Michael S. and Mary Sue Shannon Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management.

Carter started his career in marketing management at PepsiCo, working for the company's international food service division. He then moved to the Frito-Lay division, where he and his team worked on developing Tostitos Scoops! and developed and launched the Tostitos salsas and dips product line. Upon leaving PepsiCo, Carter joined Electronic Arts, where he served as vice president of product marketing and marketing communications, launching The Sims as well as products in the EA Sports franchise. He left Electronic Arts to become the founding chief marketing officer of Blue Nile, which became the leading seller of diamonds and fine jewelry on the internet. Carter later went to Walmart, where he became the CEO of Walmart.com, leading the division to become the third-highest volume retailer behind Amazon and eBay.

In 2011, Carter joined the faculty of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, where he teaches entrepreneurship and leadership. Carter has received the Impact Award from his students six times, the Sidney J. Levy award for teaching excellence in 2018, 2020 and 2023, and has been nominated for Professor of the Year seven times. Carter also co-founded The Good Life student program in 2015. In 2019, Carter was awarded an endowed chair, becoming the Michael S. and Mary Sue Shannon Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship. 

Carter is also an operating partner for Pritzker Private Capital, where he assesses potential investments and advises portfolio companies. Carter sits on the boards of Kellanova (NYSE: K), Heartland Company, Monogram Foods, and PLZ Corp. Carter is also the author of an award-winning book, The Right (and Wrong) Stuff: How Brilliant Careers are Made - and Unmade, which was released by PublicAffairs, a division of Hachette Book Group. Upon its release, Forbes named it as one of the six best self-help books of the year.


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