4 Tars Named 2021 CEOs of the Year

Orlando Business Journal has released its top picks for the 2021 CEOs of the Year awards, and four members of the Rollins community have made the list, including President Grant Cornwell and three Crummer Graduate School of Business alumni—Clint Bullock ’00MBA, Garima Shah ’11MBA, and Sergie Albino ’10MBA.

Each year, the publication celebrates high-level executives who have made outstanding contributions to their organizations. Winners are nominated by their peers and must demonstrate a strong record of innovation, outstanding performance, and community engagement. This year’s four Rollins honorees each have strong ties to the Central Florida community and embody the College’s core values of responsible leadership and global citizenship.

In recognizing President Cornwell and his standout leadership, nominators noted his concise, timely, transparent, and regular communication with faculty, staff, and students in an unprecedented year of challenges due to COVID-19 and racial reckonings across the globe. In addition to his extraordinary response to those efforts, he is commended for engaging the entire college community in an extensive strategic planning process focused on delivering programming focused on student success in the 21st century.

“I am humbled by this recognition, knowing that it is shared by the leaders found throughout our extraordinary Rollins community,” says Cornwell. “Everything noted in the citation, and all the ways Rollins has grown over the last several years, resulted from collaboration by people who put the mission of the College first. I am proud to be a partner in this noble enterprise.”

In addition to Cornwell, this year’s winners include Crummer grads who have emerged as leaders in sustainability and clean energy as well as an executive devoted to helping businesses adapt to the challenges of a global pandemic.

From left: Clint Bullock ’00MBA, Garima Shah ’11MBA, and Sergie Albino ’10MBA

Bullock, CEO of the Orlando Utilities Commission, started at the company as a summer intern 30 years ago. Throughout his tenure, he has overseen everything from customer relations and strategic planning to conservation and renewable energy. In his C-suite leadership role, Bullock is devoted to improving emissions and embracing emerging technology, announcing in February 2020 OUC’s strategic goal to reach Net Zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

Shah serves as president of Biller Genie, an award-winning company that automates corporate invoicing and accounts receivable, allowing subscribers to get paid faster and saving organizations hours of administrative work. In pursuing her MBA at Crummer, Shah honed skills in the competitive fields of entrepreneurship and finance, which prepared her to serve in key positions in the fintech industry before landing the top role at Biller Genie.

A former NASA engineer, Albino is the current CEO of ecoSPEARS, a clean technology company he founded in 2017. Using patented technology, ecoSPEARS is able to clean polluted waterways efficiently and with little disruption to the surrounding environment. Albino has also partnered with Crummer to perform research on his company’s technology through a course on concept development, which allows students to gain valuable real-world experience while completing coursework.

“I am honored to share this award with three alumni of the Rollins Crummer Graduate School of Business,” adds Cornwell, “all of whom are proof of our fulfillment of the College’s mission to educate responsible leaders.”