Anton Vincent '87
Anton Vincent has found the recipe for success as a “powerplayer” for the General Mills Corporation, where he currently is president of the frozen foods division.
The Jackson, Miss., native and 1987 graduate was recruited to SHSU as a full-scholarship athlete for the Bearkat basketball team, a team that won the 1986 Gulf Star Conference championship, finished the year ranked No. 2 in the country, and was one of the top seeds in the NCAA Division II national basketball tournament. While at SHSU, Vincent was active in academic and student life, leading the Eta Mu chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., as it’s president.
Following his graduation from SHSU, Vincent moved to Dallas, where he worked for Fidelity Investments and MCI Telecommunications, which led to a move to its world headquarters in Washington, D.C. He left MCI to pursue his Master of Business Administration degree in marketing from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and eventually was recruited by the world’s largest consumer packaged goods companies, choosing to begin his career at General Mills.
During his early General Mills career, Vincent quickly progressed through a variety of marketing leadership assignments but left the company in 1998 to lead an investment group on an entrepreneurial venture. Upon his return to General Mills in 2000, Vincent entered into the mergers and acquisition group that executed the $10 billion acquisition of The Pillsbury Company. He was named corporate vice president in 2006.
Since that time, he has served as vice president of marketing for the snacks division and the baking products division, becoming that division’s president in 2010. Earlier this year, Vincent was appointed president of the newly formed frozen foods division, where he is responsible for more than $2 billion in retail sales and the profitable growth of iconic brand franchises such as Green Giant, Pillsbury and Totino’s.
An active member of the General Mills community, Vincent was a founding member of the renowned Black Champions Network, the company’s largest employee affinity group. In 2009 Vincent received the company’s highest distinction, the Champions Award, for business impact, and in 2011 he received the Vanguard Award for his volunteer work.
Among his most notable accolades include the 2006 Diversity MBA Magazine ‘Top 50 Under 50,” 2008 Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal’s “Minority Corporate Executive of the Year,” 2011 Black Enterprise “Top 100 in Marketing and Advertising,” and also in 2011 was awarded the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Centennial Award for Business Leadership at it’s 100 Year Celebration. Earlier this year, Vincent was enshrined in the Indiana University Kelly School of Business Academy of Alumni Fellows.
Outside of his executive duties, Vincent dedicates much of his time to board work, philanthropic efforts, and educational initiatives.
Vincent and his wife, Lindy, are the proud parents of three young children and reside in Minnetonka, a suburb of Minneapolis.