Academic Degrees
MBA, Finance and Marketing, Northwestern University, 2000
BS, Accountancy, Providence College, 1992
Professional Certifications
Certified Public Accountant
Biography
Christine (Chris) Hjorth joined DePaul University as a full-time faculty member in the winter of 2020. She teaches both graduate and undergraduate students and is also the director of the part-time MBA program.
Hjorth's career began as a CPA with Arthur Andersen in the audit department. After several years, she decided to transition into the corporate arena, joining Kraft Foods’ corporate finance area at its global headquarters in Chicago. After earning an MBA in finance and marketing from Northwestern University, Hjorth transitioned into brand management at Kraft, where she spent the next 15 years in progressive leadership roles, leading many of Kraft’s iconic brands, including Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Kraft Singles, Kraft Natural Cheese, Jell-O, Kraft Mac and Cheese as well as large digital/social marketing programs throughout the organization.
Hjorth's areas of expertise include leading and mentoring high-performing, cross-functional teams, revenue management and pricing, innovation identification and launch, development of brand marketing strategy, digital strategy development and digital marketing campaigns. Her consistent ability to drive growth and achieve results over the years has won her Kraft’s prestigious President Award, given to one individual annually for growth contribution to the company as well several internal marketing awards, including the Hispanic Marketing, Top Digital Campaign and Best New Product awards. A recognized thought leader in her field, Hjorth has been interviewed several times by the Wall Street Journal for her strategic marketing and brand management achievements.
Since leaving Kraft, Hjorth has spent time consulting a variety of for-profit and nonprofit organizations. She is thrilled to be parlaying her 20-plus years of experience driving growth in brands, her digital strategy expertise and her passion for mentoring and coaching others into the classroom and on behalf of her students.