Alumni Fellows Award
2024 Recipient: Andrea Albright ’05
Andrea Albright serves as executive vice president, sourcing, at Walmart, where she leads a highly talented team dedicated to delivering quality products at great prices to Walmart customers from around the world. Since joining the company in 2005, Andrea has managed and inspired associates, fostering environments built on trust and psychological safety — a proven model that encourages radical candor among members, accelerates collaboration and innovation, and results in less waste and more targeted use of resources.
In her previous roles, Albright was instrumental in driving the growth and success of Walmart's U.S. Merchandising and People organizations, where she held positions of increasing responsibility and earned a well-deserved reputation as a dynamic and solutions-oriented leader. She has been recognized as an International Women's Forum fellow and has been named a rising woman in business by Fortune's Most Powerful Women Next Gen. Her success can be attributed to her customer-centric approach to strategy development, as well as her talent for building cognitively diverse and high performing teams.
Outside of her professional commitments, Albright is actively involved in various boards and advisory roles. She serves on the Zero100 Advisory Board, the Walmart Foundation Board, the University of Arkansas MBA Alumni Board, and the Kansas State University College of Health and Human Sciences Board. Additionally, she serves on the National Board for the Girl Scouts.
Albright resides in Bentonville, Arkansas, with her husband Patrick, and they are proud parents to their daughter, Mackenzie, and son, Liam.
Albright earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Apparel and Textile Science from Kansas State University in 2005. Additionally, she holds dual master's degrees from the University of Arkansas, specializing in Business Administration (M.B.A.) and Human Resources Development (M.Ed.).
Past Recipients
- 2024: Andrea Albright
- 2023: Marc Shaffer
- 2020: Dave Relling
- 2019: Cheryl Johnson
- 2018: Lawrence Ganong
- 2017: Tamara Markham
- 2016: Jo Kimbell
- 2015: Lee Wilbur
- 2014: Kenneth R. Fox
- 2013: Elizabeth Purcell-Keith
- 2012: Rebecca Pirkl Hurd
- 2011: Husam U. Kakish
- 2010: Petros A. Levis
- 2009: Carolyn W. Jackson
- 2008: Linda Lee
- 2007: Sandra Stith
- 2006: Mary Montgomery-Shatz
- 2005: Elizabeth Pivonka
- 2004: Wesley Jones
- 2003: Mary Ellen Vernon
2002: Sherry Maxwell - 2001: Vickie James
- 2000: Nancy McRoberts
- 1999: Kent Bradley
- 1998: Lana J. Irish
- 1997: Stephen Anderson
- 1996: Sonja Lee Connor
- 1995: Virginia Lee Gunn
- 1994: Ann Melvin
- 1993: Linda Leeper
- 1992: Irene Kathy Lee
- 1991: Harriet E. Cloud
- 1990: Barbara Ann Rainey
- 1989: Janice M. Hamilton
- 1988: Beverly Schmalzried
- 1987: Allison Jensen
- 1986: Nancy Fogg-Johnson
- 1985: Jo Heinz