Doug Burgum

Humanitarian Award
2008 Honoree

Doug Burgum is an Arthur, North Dakota native, former senior vice president of Microsoft Corporation, and former chairman and CEO of Great Plains Software, Inc.

He holds a Bachelor of University Studies degree from North Dakota State University. He also holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and serves on the school’s advisory council. He received honorary doctorate degrees from NDSU (2000) and the University of Mary (2006).

For three years Burgum worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co. in its Chicago office. In 1983, he returned to North Dakota and literally “bet the farm” when he joined the leadership team and provided the seed capital for Great Plains Software – then a very small startup company in the fledgling PC software industry. Driven by a strong vision and powerful dream, he led the company’s successful growth to an initial public offering in 1997, and through its acquisition by Microsoft Corporation in 2001 for $1.1 billion.

Burgum has established the Doug Burgum Family Fund, which focuses its charitable giving on youth and education. He currently serves on the advisory council for the Stanford Graduate School of Business; on the board of directors for Success-Factors, Inc. and Arthur Companies, Inc., a privately-held diversified agribusiness; and is co-founder and chairman of Arthur Ventures, a technology venture fund. In 2006, he founded the Kilbourne Group, whose mission is to save and restore with green initiatives historic buildings in downtown Fargo, North Dakota. He lives in Fargo with his three children.