The candidate has been a member of the Board of Directors of Noodles & Co. (NASDAQ: NDLS) since September 2017. He most recently served as President of Panera Bread where he helped guide the brand to industry leadership positions in clean food, digital ordering/payment and delivery, resulting in Panera’s strongest same restaurant sales growth in the last four years. Prior to Panera, the candidate spent 15 years at Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI), most recently as the President and Chief Operating Officers as well as a member of the Board of Directors for nine years. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Talbot’s Inc., sitting on both Compensation and Audit Committees. The candidate began his career with General Mills (NYSE: GIS) in brand management and progressed from Marketing Assistant to Vice President of Marketing while working on such iconic brands as Wheaties and Yoplait Yogurt. He holds an MBA with Distinction from the University of Michigan and earned a Bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from DePauw University, where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Noodles & Co. (NASDAQ: NDLS) operates and franchises more than 480 quick-casual restaurants in about 30 states that specialize in noodle entrees. Its restaurants feature menu items ranging in style from American to Asian to Mediterranean, including noodle and vegetable bowls, soups, and green salads with pasta. Founder Aaron Kennedy, a former brand manager at PepsiCo who opened the first Noodles & Company location in Denver in 1995, owned the company with a group of private investors until the company went public in 2013. Most of Noodles & Company’s eateries are company-owned. Revenue: $487 million.

Candidate ID: 110232