Follett Higher Education Names Veteran Business Strategist Lori Nortrup New Chief Financial Officer
Nortrup brings 25 years of experience in risk management and transformation implementation with proven track record of delivering growth and profitability for globally-recognized companies
WESTCHESTER, IL., May 29, 2025 – Follett Higher Education, the largest campus retailer in North America serving more than 1,000 colleges and universities, announced veteran business strategist and financial expert Lori Nortrup as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer, effective May 27, 2025. Nortrup joins Follett’s Executive Committee and is tasked with leading the company’s finance team and overseeing all financial strategy, planning, and reporting.
“Lori is an exceptional finance leader with more than two decades of experience successfully developing and executing strategies that foster growth and ensure continued profitability,” said Follett’s Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Kolady. “We believe she brings the right mix of retail industry and capital management expertise to have an enormous impact at Follett, helping to ensure we can continue to expand our reach and enhance our services and supports for the nation’s higher education community for many years to come.”
Nortrup brings significant strategic and operational finance experience across retail, manufacturing, and wholesale to Follett Higher Education. Most recently, Nortrup served as Chief Financial Officer for Save a Lot,where she played a critical role in the company’s shift from retailer to wholesaler that helped achieve significant operational savings.
Previously, Nortrup spent more than two decades at Energizer Holdings, where she steadily climbed the ranks to assume roles of increasing responsibility and impact, including Vice President of Global Finance. Her leadership responsibilities spanned strategic planning, capital management, and transformation initiatives such as integration, mergers & acquisitions, and global budgeting programs.
Some of Nortrup’s most notable achievements include:
- Managing a P&L of $3B revenue and $550M EBITDA;
- Helping to deliver $150 million in earnings improvements by leading key integration work; and
- Building strong, effective finance teams across a variety of business types.
Nortrup holds an MBA from Fontbonne University and a BS in Accountancy from Truman State University. In her spare time, she enjoys camping and spending time with her husband and two children.
Kolady added, “While we are tremendously excited to welcome Lori to our team, I would be remiss if I did not recognize the significant contributions and service of our interim CFO Derek Irwin, who has helped not only lead our finance operations for the last year and a half, but also played an integral role in the executive search process. We are deeply grateful for Derek’s leadership, dedication, and steady guidance.”
For more information about Follett Higher Education, visit Follett.com
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About Follett Corporation | Follett.com
Follett Higher Education is a leading educational service provider and omnichannel retailer providing students, faculty and staff, parents, and fans the course materials, learning tools and retail services needed to successfully support the academic, athletic, and collegiate journey. Follett Higher Education supports over 7.5 million students through its 1,000+ physical and online collegiate retail stores across North America.
