C-Suite Speaker Series

The C-Suite Speaker Series features alumni and friends of the college who are in leadership positions (at the level of CEO, partner, chairman, etc.). The series brings business leaders to the UNC Charlotte campus to present to and interact with undergraduate and graduate students. This series is organized several times a year by the Belk College of Business external relations team and the Niblock Student Center, which prepares graduates to enter a business career and become leaders in the workplace and the community. Through their stories, successes, and lessons, speakers of the C-Suite Speaker Series provide a transformational experience for students.

SPRING 2026 Speaker: TOM GABBARD

Belk College of Business C-Suite Speaker Series presented in partnership with the College of Arts + Architecture 
Wednesday, February 11, 2026 | 10:15 – 11 a.m.
Anne R. Belk Theater, Robinson Hall, UNC Charlotte main campus

Tom Gabbard has been CEO of Blumenthal Arts since 2003. The Blumenthal’s 110 employees manage six theaters in Charlotte, hosting over 1,000 performances annually, as well as extensive education programs, immersive projects, and the Charlotte International Arts Festival. During his tenure, the Blumenthal became a Top 10 market for touring Broadway shows in North America.

A member of the Board of Governors of the Broadway League, he serves on the Legislative Council and Finance and Intra-Industry Committees. He has been a voter for Broadway’s Tony Awards since 1997. In 2022, the League awarded Tom with Lifetime Tony Award Voter status. In 2012 the League awarded him the Samuel J. L’Hommedieu Award for Outstanding Achievement in Presenter Management.

He serves as co-chair of The Jimmy Awards, the National High School Musical Theatre Awards held annually on Broadway.

Tom is a Past President of the Independent Presenters Network (IPN), a consortium of 40 leading touring Broadway presenters in North America, Asia, and the U.K. Tony Awards as a co-producer/investor include for Monty Python’s Spamalot, Thoroughly Modern Millie, La Cage aux Folles, RED, Pippin, Kinky Boots, The Color Purple Revival, Hello Dolly, Dear Evan Hansen, The Band’s Visit, Oklahoma!, Hadestown, A Strange Loop, and Lehman Trilogy.

Other Broadway, Off-Broadway, national tour and London West End credits include Moulin Rouge, Ain’t Too Proud, David Byrne’s American Utopia, Death of a Salesman, Tootsie, Legally Blonde, Frost/Nixon, Matilda, Cinderella, Jagged Little Pill, Something Rotten, An American in Paris, Waitress, The Broadway Museum, and Back to the Future. He produced the New York run and the national tour of TRACES, and the national tour of 9 to 5. Tom is a leader in developing partnerships between the UK and US, working on over 25 UK/US transfers and London productions.

He was the Founding Managing Director of Pepperdine University’s Center for the Arts in Malibu, the Executive Director of the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities in Denver, and the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts in Green Bay. He holds an MBA in Arts Management from Golden Gate University and a BA in Music Performance from Pepperdine University where he also attended Law School.

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