SLU President Fred P. Pestello, Leaders Across University Are Highlighted by St. Louis Magazine as Influential, Impactful in Area

St. Louis Magazine’s inaugural edition of the St. Louis Business 500 highlights some of the St. Louis area’s most “influential, impactful and innovative leaders across a variety of industries.” The list of 500 people shaping St. Louis features some prominent Saint Louis University luminaries. 

Education

Saint Louis University President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D. and Jackson Nickerson, Ph.D., dean of the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business, were highlighted as top education leaders in the area.

The magazine noted Pestello’s upcoming retirement from the University and cites SLU’s growth in enrollment and the creation of the SLU Research Institute as highlights of his tenure. Earlier this month, Saint Louis University earned the highly revered “R1” designation in the 2025 Research Activity Designations by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

SLU’s rise to R1 is the result of a decade-long, institution-wide effort to become a national exemplar for educational and research excellence. To qualify for R1 classification, universities must spend at least $50 million on research and award a minimum of 70 research doctorates in any field within a single year. SLU reported $85.9 million in research expenditures and awarded 271 research doctorates in 2023, the most recent year for the Carnegie classification.

Nickerson came to SLU in 2024 to lead the Chaifetz School of Business as the Edward Jones Dean after 28 years at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a distinguished and internationally recognized teacher, scholar and consulting organizational strategist.

Nickerson’s research spans leadership, organization and strategy with an emphasis on innovation. He has published six books, more than 85 journal articles and case studies, and numerous popular press articles and book chapters.

Health Care

Christine Jacobs, M.D., vice president for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, was profiled as a top local leader in health care. 

As dean and vice president, Jacobs leads the clinical, academic and research areas of the School of Medicine. Since stepping into the role, Jacobs’ accomplishments include improving the financial health of SLUCare, increasing medical student applications, and implementing a strategy for research growth, among others. 

Jacobs told St. Louis Magazine she was looking forward to growing the SLUCare Physician Practice, in partnership with SSM Health. Jacobs said considers economic disparity to be among the health care industry’s most significant challenges.

Leading Industries

Vasit Sagan, Ph.D., professor of geospatial science and computer science, and Nadine Alameh, Ph.D., executive director of Taylor Geospatial Institute (TGI), were highlighted as top Geospatial Intelligence leaders in the area. 

Sagan, who is also the associate vice president for geospatial science at Saint Louis University and chief scientist for food security and digital agriculture for TGI, has been a leader in geospatial education at SLU, bringing together the University's expertise in geospatial science and research.

In his various geospatial leadership roles, Sagan has been the principal investigator on funded geospatial research, and assisted in grant-funded training of the region’s geospatial and geodetic workforce at multiple levels, from undergraduate STEM and geospatial degree and credential programs to advanced professional development. He is also the director of SLU's Remote Sensing Lab.

Alameh became TGI's inaugural executive director in September 2023. Launched in 2022, TGI is an interdisciplinary consortium of researchers and scientists from eight Midwestern institutions working across a wide array of applications, from national security to agriculture technology.

The TGI consortium is led by SLU and includes the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Harris-Stowe State University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Missouri University of Science & Technology, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Washington University in St. Louis. Collectively, these institutions encompass more than 5,000 faculty and 100,000 students.

Living Legend

Rex Sinquefield, SLU alumnus and trustee, was highlighted as a living legend. 

Among his noted accomplishments were helping accelerate SLU’s rise as a world-class research university. In 2018, Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield donated $50 million to the University, the largest gift in SLU history. The gift created the Saint Louis University Research Institute, a focal point in SLU’s strategic goal of growing the scale and eminence of its research and scholarship. 

The research institute has enabled the University to focus on creating a critical mass of productive researchers; invest in priority research areas; and created a research growth fund to aid in the acquisition of additional resources, such as instrumentation, equipment and technology that are critical to conduct and advance leading-edge research.

Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers more than 15,200 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University’s diverse community of scholars is SLU’s service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place.