Pepperdine Graziadio Business School to Honor Distinguished Alumnus Dr. Keith Dorsey (MBA ’13, PKE 130) at Summer 2024 Commencement Ceremony

The Pepperdine Graziadio Business School summer 2024 commencement ceremony will take place at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu on Saturday, August 10, 2024, at 10:30 AM. The event will feature an address from Distinguished Alumnus Award-recipient Dr. Keith Dorsey (MBA ’13, PKE 130). Class of 2024 student Rafael Barrero (BSM ’23) will deliver the student address. The summer commencement ceremony will celebrate the time-honored tradition of Graziadio and the notable accomplishments of graduating students.

Dorsey is a managing partner and US practice leader of CEO and Board Services at Boyden, a global executive search firm in 45 countries. His practice provides comprehensive search and consulting services to improve board governance, board refreshment, and CEO succession planning. He is also an accomplished researcher, author, advisor, and board member who is deeply passionate about promoting diversity, governance, and strategic growth within the private and public sectors.

He has more than 25 years of leadership experience in the human capital management industry. He was the senior vice president of sales at Fortune 500 company Aon and executive vice president and global head of sales at its divested company, Alight Solutions. Prior to his service at Aon, Dorsey was a senior leader at Fortune 1000 company Paychex, Inc., and served his country in the US Air Force.

Dorsey is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) certified director and was honored on the 2023 NACD Directorship 100 list, which recognizes influential corporate directors and governance experts. He serves on the boards of Vimly Benefit Solutions, the Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School, and the Pacific Crest Trail Association and is the chair of the City of La Quinta’s Financial Advisory Commission. Dorsey received a bachelor of science in business administration from Charter Oak State College. He earned his master of business administration in the Presidents and Key Executives program at Graziadio Business School in 2013. In 2022 he completed his doctorate in organizational change and leadership at the University of Southern California.

As mentioned above, Part-time MBA student Rafael Barrero will deliver the student address. A native of Bogotá, Colombia, and a first-generation immigrant to the US, Barrero learned from an early age the valuable lessons of  adaptability and resilience. He is greatly committed to his family and celebrates the many intersections of his Colombian heritage and diverse American culture. During his time at Pepperdine, Barrero has been active in campus life as a member of the Latinx MBA Connection, a student ambassador, and a research assistant

With more than 20 years of experience specializing in media and entertainment, in the technology industry,  Barrero currently serves as the head of infrastructure engineering and site reliability engineering at Amazon, overseeing and collaborating with various teams to deliver premium multimedia content to millions via the Prime Video streaming platform. Prior to his work with Amazon, he served for more than a decade at the Walt Disney Company in a number of senior management roles in both software engineering and site reliability engineering.

Barrero earned his bachelor of science in management with a specialization in entrepreneurship from Pepperdine University in 2023. He receives his master of business administration with a concentration in finance from the Graziadio Business School this summer.

For more information about Pepperdine Graziadio's commencement ceremony, visit the Graziadio Commencement website.