Ben Summers currently leads the enterprise New Ways of Working (NWoW) group at Vanguard. The NWoW group consists of 70 change professionals, charged with implementing a new management system across all divisions globally for the 17,000+ employees at Vanguard. The goal of the effort is to advance Vanguard’s strategic priorities and ultimately drive better outcomes for the company’s clients.
Prior to this role, Ben served nearly 13 years as an officer in the US Army. Most recently, he served as an Assistant Professor of Economics at West Point. At West Point, Ben taught courses in Critical Thinking, Economics, Finance and Investment Theory and served as the Executive Secretary for the Academy’s Scholar Program. In 2019, he received the William F. Murdy Award for Teaching Excellence. Prior to West Point, Ben deployed twice to Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne Division and held a range of leadership roles as an aviation officer.  From 2012-2013, he led a turnaround of an Aviation Maintenance Company and was awarded the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award for his efforts.
Ben earned his BS in Economics with distinction from West Point in 2006 and an MBA with distinction from the Harvard Business School in 2015. He is a graduate of the Army’s flight school, Air Assault School, Airborne School, and Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) School.  He earned the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, and Air Medal for leadership in combat.
