2010 Outstanding Alumni

A resident of Seattle, Wash., Rick Walker earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in public relations from Texas Tech University and a Master of Business Administration degree in international management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

He is director of strategic alliances for Microsoft in its telecommunications and media-focused partner team based in Redmond, Wash. He is responsible for Microsoft's go-to-market sales and business development efforts with key U.S. and global partners, including Tribune Company, Motorola, MetroPCS and Sprint.

Previously, he was responsible for the end-to-end Microsoft business relationship with T-Mobile USA, a United States downstream subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom.

For the past decade, Walker has been engaged in international partner development in the telecommunications industry in similar roles with AT&T Mobility (Cingular) and Nortel Networks.

Walker is a current member of the Texas Tech University College of Media & Communication National Professional Advisory Board.

Previously, Walker worked and resided in Russia for four years in two roles, first, as managing director of the American Business Center (USAID) in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, where he and his staff worked to attract U.S.-led investment in the center of the former military-industrial complex in the former Soviet Union, and second, as director of the Moscow operations of Fort Worth-based Alcon Laboratories, then a division of Nestle S.A. (now wholly owned by Novartis).

Walker has presented globally regarding the Russian investment climate at investor conferences in London, Brussels and Frankfurt and has spent nearly five years residing in the former Soviet Union both professionally and earlier as a student.

Walker is proficient in the Russian language.