Everything’s coming up roses for David Eads ’84/86. The Shocker business administration and marketing graduate is the new executive director and CEO for the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, famous for its New Year’s Day’s Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl college football game. Named to the organization’s top post in December 2016 after a national search, Eads took up the duties of his new position in February.
Serving as top executive for the Tournament of Roses may be new in scope for Eads, but he’s bringing a floatload of experience with him to the job – experience that goes all the way back to his days at Wichita State. For one thing, he was a WSUAA Ambassador, one of 20 hand-selected student leaders who worked together as the governing body of the 200-plus-member Student Alumni Association, which helped organize and energize such high-profile campus activities as Homecoming.
He was also a member of the Spirit Squad, which in 1986 earned a No. 7 national ranking at the Collegiate Cheerleader Championship in Orlando, Fla. A year later in Miami Beach, the Spirit Squad elevated that ranking to No. 1, with Eads as coach.
For a decade, Eads worked in various positions at the Wichita Convention & Visitors Bureau. After moving to California in 2000, he held senior executive roles with the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest in the country, before being tapped to lead the Tournament of Roses.
