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Oct. 2, 2024

 

MISSOULA – The Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ College of Business will recognize Katie and Chris Ruff for their exceptional career achievements during its fall Business Advisory Council (BAC) Meetings. The Ruffs will be honored as the 2024 UM College of Business Outstanding Alum following the BAC Meeting on Oct. 11 at 3:30 p.m. in the Gianchetta Piazza of the Gallagher Business Building. The event is free and open to the public.

The college has named outstanding alumni since 1990 and has celebrated graduates such as IBM executive Mary Olson, former D.A. Davidson chair Ian Davidson, KPMG audit partner Kayreen Handley, and most recently Partner at FAST Enterprises, Maggie Gleason.

Katie & Chris Ruff ('93)

Katie and Chris Ruff are native Montanans who grew up in Billings and graduated from Billings West High School. They each earned a Business Administration degree with an emphasis in finance from The Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ College of Business in 1993. During their time at UM, Katie was an active member of Delta Gamma sorority, including being Chapter President, while also being a member of the Mortar Board. Chris was a UM Advocate, ASUM Student Senator and a founding member of the UM competitive golf club.  It’s fair to say, that their time at UM was instrumental in developing their sense of service and philanthropy. Today, they live in a suburb of Seattle where they raised three children. Abby graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in marketing and now lives and works in Portland, Oregon. Will is a junior at San Diego State University majoring in computer science. Lizzie just started her freshman year at the University of Colorado, also majoring in computer science.

Katie currently serves as Founder and President of Ontra Marketing Group (OMG!), which focuses on helping entrepreneurial businesses improve their traditional and digital marketing. Recently the company has expanded to include planning and managing events for businesses and non-profits. In her role, Katie builds and maintains relationships with clients and oversees all financial matters including budgeting, invoicing, cash flow management, and payroll. Katie’s prior experience includes helping a high-growth startup, OpenTable.com, expand their business quickly in the Pacific Northwest. Katie started her career in banking with Norwest Bank in Billings (merged with Wells Fargo), and after moving to Seattle, led the opening of Wells Fargo’s first online only bank. Beyond her professional experience, Katie also is passionate about using her skills to help non-profits reach the full potential of their missions. Currently, Katie serves as a board member for Clothes for Kids, a charity which provides free wardrobes to lower-income Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ through the 12th grade, giving them the confidence to succeed in school. Prior to this, Katie served for 10 years as a board member, past President and strategic advisor to the Northshore Schools Foundation, helping the organization meet its mission to fill gaps between public funding and the needs of its diverse education goals.

Chris Ruff serves as President, CEO, and Chairman at Glympse, which helps consumers and leading brands leverage location data to predictively visualize the movement of people, products and assets enabling prompt communication when it matters most. During his tenure at Glympse he has been recognized as one of “The 20 Best-Performing CEOs to Watch Out for in 2019” by the Mirror Review. Prior to Glympse, Chris served as President, CEO, and Chairman at UIEvolution (renamed Xevo). At UIEvolution, Chris successfully transformed the company from an early developer of mobile applications into a leading automotive technology and infotainment company that in 2019 was purchased by Lear Corporation. Fueled by a passion for entrepreneurship, Chris founded and continues to operate Driven Growth Capital, a strategic advisory and early-stage investment firm that provides valuable insights and capital to help companies accelerate growth to achieve long-term success. He began his business and technology career at Computers Unlimited in Billings and later earned his MBA from the University of Washington, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. Chris is also passionate about coaching youth basketball. He coached all three of his kids and then became the Woodinville High School Select coordinator for the girls’ program, where he coached and oversaw the 4^th-8^th grade girls’ teams for over nine years.

In addition to their professional accomplishments, the Ruffs are deeply committed to community service. Being fortunate to have been able to provide access and resources for many growth opportunities to their three children, Katie and Chris are deeply committed to providing service and resources to help others get access to achieve their goals and dreams. With this focus, the Ruffs’ philanthropic efforts extend to UM, where they have significantly contributed to scholarships for first generation College of Business Ñý¼§Ö±²¥, College of Business and Grizzly Athletic Association capital projects, a faculty fellowship, and entrepreneurial initiatives such as the John Ruffatto Business Startup Challenge.