Dan Whitacre | Former Kroger Senior Director, R&D and Transformation

In semi-retirement, Dan currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati, teaching a class that exposes graduate students to the traits, challenges, and advice of senior IT leaders. In 2023, retired from his final role at Kroger as the Senior Director of Kroger R&D Labs at the 1819 Innovation Hub and as the unofficial Mayor of the 1819 Innovation Hub. Over 40+ years, Dan has served 5 tenures at Kroger Co within IT software development teams, the reengineering department, data and analytics leadership, an internal startup, to R&D and partnering with the University of Cincinnati at the 1819 Innovation Hub. He has been involved in the community over his career as one of the founders of the Cincinnati Chief Data Officers Roundtable, Chairing the Central Ohio CIO Data Management Group, Editorial Board member and Author for the CDO Magazine, a frequent panelist/speaker/author, and volunteering for the Free Store Food Bank Innovation Committee and an instructor for the local PMI Chapter. In 2023, Dan was the recipient of The Circuit’s Best of Tech Legacy and Social Impact Awards.