Denise W. Warren
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
Denise Wilder Warren, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, has more than 25 years of diverse financial experience. In 2009 she was honored as “CFO of the Year” in the category of large, private companies by the Nashville Business Journal in recognition of her leadership at Capella. Nashville Medical News named her to the 2011 class of “Women to Watch.”
Before joining Capella, Denise was Senior Equity Analyst and Research Director for Avondale Partners LLC. Her department provided analytical research on 100+ publicly-traded companies, focusing on healthcare, consumer products, restaurants, retail and technology. She was also part of the senior management team responsible for running day-to-day operations.
Denise began her career in 1980 with Ernst & Young in Raleigh, North Carolina. She then worked for a series of financial firms, including E.F. Hutton, where she was a Registered Representative; Ford Capital, LTD, where she was Assistant Treasurer; and CS First Boston, where she was a lead Financial Analyst for leveraged buy-outs and other financial transaction. After earning her master’s degree, she joined Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York as Director and Senior Equity Analyst. While there she was honored by her selections to the “Institutional Investor All-American Research Team” and the “Wall Street Journal All-Star Research Team.”
In 2000, Denise was appointed as Senior Vice President and CFO for Gaylord Entertainment Company, a $1.8 billion leading hospitality and entertainment organization based in Nashville. While at Gaylord, she was named “Financial Executive of the Year” by the Institute of Management Accountants for her contributions as CFO for the company.
She is integrally involved in the community, serving on the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association- Middle Tennessee Chapter and as the 2011 Chair for Go Red for Women Campaign. She is also currently serving on the Board of Governors of the Federation of American Hospitals. She earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from Southern Methodist University where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude. She also earned a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. She enjoys running, beading and cooking. She and her husband, Michael, have a daughter.