2023 Alumni Awards

 

 

Brad Casper has had an extensive career leading some of the most dynamic, world-wide organizations as well as a long history of impactful community involvement.  Graduating from IHHS in 1978, Casper started his career at General Electric in 1982 in financial management and jumped to Procter & Gamble in 1985 in brand management.  Over his successful 16+ year P&G career, including 9 years in Asia, he became the Vice President and General Manager of  Global Fabric Care from 1998-2001.

Procter was a springboard to a series of executive roles over the ensuing 20 years. He was recruited to become President of Church & Dwight Corporation, the makers of Arm & Hammer, Trojan, First Response and Nair, before getting recruited in 2005 to become President and CEO of the Dial Corporation in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he ran the $2 billion North American subsidiary of a German multinational. Following 5+ years at Dial he embarked on more entrepreneurial undertakings: Executive Chairman of Dymatize, a sports nutrition business in Dallas for 3 years,  a year as the President of the Phoenix Suns, and 2 years as CEO of Dogswell, a pet nutrition firm in Los Angeles. 

Finally after commuting to Dallas and LA for nearly 5 years, he returned to full-time duties in Phoenix to lead OH Partners, a small advertising agency.  Joining in 2016, Casper served as the President and CEO of a once struggling marketing agency which he catapulted on to the Inc 5000 List of Fastest Growing Companies for four consecutive years, an Arizona Most Admired Company, a Top Private Company, and a Best Places to Work.  In October 2020, he resigned from OH and sold his ownership interests to co-create his first start-up, Heart & Soul Marketing, which has already become the most awarded agency in the Southwestern United States in less than two years of operation.

In addition to his corporate work, Casper has served on numerous leadership, economic and educational boards, including being the Vice Chairman of the Board of the Scottsdale Unified School District Foundation, five years on the Board of Trustees of the Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS) at Arizona State University, and 10 years on the Pamplin College of Business Advisory Council at Virginia Tech.

Casper is a magna cum laude graduate of Virginia Tech University (1982). He later was appointed a University fellow at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix.  He is married to IHHS classmate and alumna Kay Sanders Casper and they have three adult children who live in Arizona.

Casper comments, "Indian Hill High School and the entire Village of Indian Hill experience remain among the very best of my life and career.  The combination of education and culture absolutely put me on a path to success that I do not take for granted."

       

There are few people in our community who have committed over 30 years of care to develop our school community to its fullest potential. Lyle Fiore stands alone for his deep volunteer engagement with the district on some of its most challenging growth projects.  

Professionally, Fiore built a well-respected career as Director of Financial Investments for Fifth Third Bank from 1985 - 2001, and later co-founding a private investment strategy firm, PEACE Investments LLC,  from 2001 - 2013. He started his volunteerism as a recreation league baseball coach in 1988 for his then young son.  By 1994 he chaired the committee for the levy and bond issue for the schools.  Meanwhile, he was also active  on the Booster Board, serving as Treasurer, and fully involved in all the Booster Bashes and community activities.  His service with Boosters also overlapped his first term on the Board of Education, becoming President of the Board in 1998.  During this time, the school organized a bond levy in order to build the high school that was completed in 2004 and added a wing to the Primary School. 

After his Board term, Fiore joined the Indian Hill Foundation board, which in 2004, was just a few years into existence and faced many challenges.  He served for eight years, including being the Treasurer and President, on the Executive Committee leading the volunteer board to secure the future of the IHF.  “It was during this time that I negotiated with the existing and volunteer-run Alumni Association to reorganize and come under the umbrella of the IH Foundation to ensure its viability into the future.”  2011 was also the very first Conquer the Hill 5K Run/Walk. Fiore was active in creating the partnership between the IHF and the IHSD as a way to support the district Wellness Committee goals.  It has become a spring tradition ever since,  involving thousands of community members and raising funds for innovative programming in all the schools. 

By this time, Fiore now had grandchildren in the IH district and continued his involvement. From 2013, he has continued  to serve another term on the IH Foundation board and currently still serves on the finance and alumni committees. During this time he also assisted with MS and HS theater productions for his grandson.  

Fiore served a second term on the Board of Education from 2015-2019.  As the Board Representative to the Foundation, he was an instrumental member of the steering committee for the Home of the Braves complex.  He supported the fund-raising strategy for this first-ever public-private capital project for the district.  All the behind-the-scenes work of the committee was ultimately successful and our community is enjoying the expanded amenities and opportunities the Home of the Braves offers to students and families alike.   Fiore has also been active over the past several years on committees that have guided the work of our current construction projects. This once-in-a-generation build has surely benefitted from his decades of experience and insight.  Fiore’s young grandchildren are current third-generation Braves who will enjoy the many positive outcomes of his future-focused work for the district. 

Fiore is a graduate of Eckerd College (1974) and has his MBA from Xavier University (1984). 

With over 30 years of service to the IH district, Fiore humbly reflects, “It’s been a privilege to be able to be associated with such a great school district over the decades. I can only hope my contributions have had a positive impact on the many wonderful people and students I've met along the way.”  

Known for her versatility and engaging stage presence, soprano Alexandra Schoeny has performed in nearly a dozen countries in venues such as Het Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Das Konzerthaus (Berlin), and the Opéra Royale de Versailles (France). Her U.S. appearances include outings with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, and Cincinnati Ballet. She has regularly appeared as a principal artist with Cincinnati Opera since 2012. This spring, she is looking forward to returning to the stage as Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen. 

Since returning to the area following a decade in Europe, Alexandra is committed to growing the presence of the vocal arts in Cincinnati. Along with her collaborator Trevor Kroeger, she founded Breath Collective, an organization producing new and exciting encounters with vocal music. They have been the engine behind the tremendously successful St. Rose Music Society, including the regularly sold-out annual Christmas concert, offering a program of professional singers and orchestra for free to the community. Actively working to promote new voices in classical music, Breath Collective looks forward to producing their second commission, a chamber orchestration of Rebecca Dale’s Requiem, in the fall of 2023.

Alexandra received her training from Northwestern University (B.Mus), the Royal Academy of Music (M.Mus), the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague (M. Opera), and the U.C. College-Conservatory of Music (Doctorate of Musical Arts). She served on the faculty of the University of Dayton, Bucknell University, Northern Kentucky University, and is currently teaching at Xavier University. She resides in Ft. Thomas, KY with her husband, Jan, and son, Harry.

Her former IHHS vocal director Deborah Centers noted in her nomination, “Breaking into the international field of opera is quite a feat...There is evidence in the integrity of her character due to numerous return engagements with companies across the country. It takes a very strong individual to travel around the world and work with almost all new acquaintances on every project she accepts. Her strength as a leader and teacher is admirable.”

Schoeny commented, “I’d like to offer my sincere gratitude to the Indian Hill Foundation for honoring me with this award. My time at Indian Hill was full of exploration that gave me the confidence to go out into the wider world and pursue my passions. Many thanks for this honor.“