Mike Bechtel ’94 will deliver the commencement address at Morgan Park Academy’s 152nd graduation exercises on June 7, 2025.
As Chief Futurist at Deloitte Consulting LLP, Bechtel leads a team that helps clients make sense of what’s new and next in tech.
He also serves as an adjunct professor teaching corporate innovation at the University of Notre Dame.
“We are pleased to have Mr. Bechtel address the Class of 2025 and the MPA community,” Head of School Mercedes Z. Sheppard said. “He sets a tremendous example for our graduates and his experiences and insights will surely inspire them. I greatly look forward to welcoming him back to campus.”
In 2013, Bechtel co-founded and served as Managing Director of Ringleader Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage startups that had (intentionally or not) built simple solutions to complex corporate challenges.
Bechtel began his career with Accenture Labs, where his team helped Fortune 500 clients put emerging technologies to profitable use. 12 years (and 12 U.S. patents) later, he was named the firm’s first Global Innovation Director, where he was charged with creating a strategy, process, and culture to foster company-wide intrapreneurship.
“MPA taught me the power of polymathy,” he said. “In a world too often focused on specialization, MPA was for me an oasis of diverse dot-connectors.
“I’m thrilled to come home to celebrate the Class of 2025, and to encourage them to realize how uniquely well-prepared they are to become tomorrow’s global leaders.”
